Away
by mads.writes44
Summary: Clary Fray has had a tough life, and given her new circumstances it definitely hasn't gotten any easier. About a year ago she was kidnapped by her own father and brother, but now she's being forced to move to live with a bunch of people she doesn't know. There she meets a certain golden eyed someone who is very egoistical, but little does Clary know he also has a dark past.
1. chapter 1

NOTE: (PLEASE READ) This fanfiction contains mention and some description of abuse. There is mention of rape, and I know it's a sensitive topic to some people so I'll try to stray away from it. None of the characters belong to me, only the plot does. Also this is my first fanfiction, so go easy on me.

 **Chapter** **One**

Tears streamed down my face as I was leaving my home. The only place I knew. Part of me was happy for a new start, so I could get away from the memories. The bruised and bloody nights. But another part of me, wanted to stay here in this town.

But I knew I had to get away from here. Away from everything. So my mom and my stepdad had decided to move away from New York to a remote part of Montana. In a large cabin with other people. Why my parents thought it would be a good idea to live with other people, I had no idea.

When we pulled up to the log cabin my mom turned around to face me. Her face had a serious look on it. "Honey, can you try to be nice to the other kids for me? I told their parents what happened."

"You did what?!" I yelled. "You told them what happened to me!" I didn't want them to look at me with pity. People who knew about what happened to me looked at me like I was a lost puppy. It frustrated me to no end.

"Honey, relax. The kids don't know, and their parents won't tell them. Relax," she said calmly.

"Easier said then done," I mumbled.

The log cabin was huge. It was the size of a mansion. Trees and flowers decorated the yard and the tall grass grew wildly. The cabin was surrounded by a huge forest. It was dark, and the trees were withering slightly.

"Let's go Clary," Luke, my step dad, said.

"It's not like I have a choice," I mumbled.

Luke looked at me with a raised eyebrow. He must've heard what I said.

I ignored him and walked to the front door. It was a large red wooden door, the color of my hair. I raised my hand, and closed it into a fist. I hesitated before knocking on the door. Finally, I took a deep breath and knocked loudly.

Only a couple of seconds later, the door flew open. A tall women, my mom's age, stood at the door smiling brightly. It lit up her whole face. Long ebony hair lay on her shoulders perfectly, making me jealous. My hair was frizzy bright and red that went to my waist; it was completely out of control.

"Oh," she squeeled. "You must be Clary. I've heard so much about you."

"I'm sure you did," I mumbled, succumbing rolling my eyes.

Suddenly, she screeched, "Jocelyn! Luke!" She pulled them into a huge hug. "I'm so glad you two are finally together. He's so much better than Valentine."

I paled. Remembering the weeks I was trapped with that monster.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I forgot. Is there anything I can do to make it up?" she pleaded with me.

"It's okay," I said. "Really, I'm fine."

"Okay, I'm sorry sweetie."

I smiled slightly. "It's okay, really Mrs. Lightwood."

"Oh call me Maryse. It makes me feel so much younger. Ah! I'll let you all unpack and to get ready for dinner. Clary your mother told me you liked to paint. I got you some paints for your room," Maryse said, smiling brightly.

"Thank you so much!" I said genuinely. At least I got to paint my room.

So, Maryse led me to my room and hugged me goodbye. Everyone's room had some big sign on their door, and mine had a post it note. To my left was someone called Jace, and to my right was someone called Magnus. Magnus's sign had glitter and bright neon colors all over it. I guessed he liked glitter a lot.

I roamed down the hallway and memorized all the other names. There was Jace, Magnus, Alec, Izzy, Simon, Jordan, Maia, and Sebastian. Finally, I went to my room. It was huge. It was about the size of a small apartment. More room for me to paint I guess. I unpacked the boxes and got to work.

By the time I was finished, I had paint spattered on my clothes and my hair was thrown into a messy bun.

"Clary! Come down for dinner, we have Chinese food!" I heard my mom yell. Instantly, I ran down the stairs, ready to eat. By the time I got to the kitchen everyone was already eating.

"Clary," Maryse squeeled. "It's time for you to meet everyone. This is Isabelle and Alec, my children."

"Call me Izzy," the girl said smiling. She was beautiful, it looked like she could be a model. The boy shyly waved. He also looked like he could be a model, with his jet black hair and crystal blue eyes. I waved back to them smiling slightly.

"This is Maia and Jordan, they came here with their parents, but both of them are off on a business trip for the summer," Maryse continued. Jordan had his arm around her waist and they were blushing. I guess that meant that they were dating by the way they were looking at each other. They were also very good looking and I was starting to become jealous of everyone.

"This is Simon, he came with his mom, and this is Magnus, he came by himself," Maryse said, still smiling. I looked at Magnus first. He had glitter everywhere, on his hair, his clothes. Still he looked good, with all that glitter.

"Hey biscuit," he said smiling, I instantly liked him and waved back.

Then I looked at Simon. I smiled instantly. He was the only one who didn't look like he came from a movie. He was normal, but still looked good, with his glasses and messy hair. He smiled and waved. I did the same thing back.

"This is Sebastion," Maryse said, "he came by himself." He was handsome with his black hair and developed muscles. He winked at me and I blushed slightly. Averting my eyes, I looked back at Maryse.

"And finally, this is Jace, my adopted child," Maryse said with a bright smile. I looked at Jace and instantly disliked him. He was smirking at me as if he knew he was perfect looking. He reminded me of this kid named Will at my old school. He was an egoistical jerkish manwhore who slept with every girl at school. Well, at least until he started dated Tessa Gray, my cousin.

The best way to describe Jace was golden, from his tanned, toned skin to his blonde hair and golden eyes. His lips curled up into a smile showing perfect teeth. He winked at me and I completely ignored him. I saw Izzy and Alec laughing out of the corner of my eye.

"Clary, I have a feeling we're going to be fast friends. Why don't you come watch a movie with all of us?" Izzy asked, smiling.

I liked Izzy enough and decided to say yes. "Sure, why not?" I said, walking to the only empty spot at the table, and unfortunately it was next to Jace. He winked at me and I rolled my eyes, instantly knowing he was like the old Will Herondale.

"I'm Jace, Jace Herondale," he said sticking out his hand. I didn't take it.

"Herondale? Do you know who Will is?" I asked.

"Yep, he's my cousin. Why?" he asked, smirking as if expecting me to say I slept with him or something.

"He's dating my cousin," I replied.

"Ah, the Tessa Gray chick. He goes on and on about her over the phone," he complained.

I ignored him and turned to Izzy. "What movie are we watching?"

"Uh, it's called Fist Fight, it's about two teachers," she said hesitantly.

"Isabelle, you're watching that movie?" her mom asked.

"Yeah, mom, I think we're all old enough to watch it," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, fine," she said.

Izzy squeeled.

 **Time Skip: The movie**

I walked into the small movie theater like room they had, and sat down on the couch next to Izzy. Maia and Jordan were already sitting on the love seat, and Simon sat on a contractable chair. Magnus and Alec were also sitting together, and Alec was furiously blushing. Sebastian walked in the room and was heading towards the empty spot on the couch. Before he sat down Jace jumped on the couch next to me. I ignored him.

"Everyone, the movie's starting!" yelled Izzy. She squeeled… again. I sighed.

The movie was pretty funny, I smiled a bit throughout it, but halfway through it Jace was talking and commenting on the movie and we couldn't hear the movie.

"Shut up!" Izzy yelled. He continued making comments about the movie. "You idiot, shut up!" I paled, remembering those exact words.

 _I was screaming, screaming for someone to hear me before they tortured me once again. I screamed for my life, but once again it didn't work, and the punishment would only be worse for screaming._

 _"Shut up," my captor, my dad, yelled. "You idiot, shut up!" Slap. My face hurt where he had slapped me, leaving a bruise._

"Jonathan Christopher Herondale!" Izzy yelled, mad at Jace for talking. I could barely understand what Izzy was saying, except for the word Jonathan.

 _"Jonathan! Come and help your father punish Clarissa for screaming," Valentine said, with a smug look on his face._

 _"Of course father," Jonathan said, smiling viciously. His dark empty, black eyes poured into my dull emerald green eyes. They had once been a bright green, but living in this hell hole hadn't done me any good. It made it worse that it was my own father and brother doing this to me. Although, you can't expect them to be normal, considering they're a part of the Circle, New York's biggest cult._

 _Jonathan pulled out his blade from his dark leather jacket. Slashing it across my bare stomach, making me scream in pain._

 _"What, did I say Clarissa," Valentine scolded, kicking me over and over again, breaking my ribs. "No more screaming!"_

 _I had never screamed again, well at least while I was awake. Jonathan had started carving into my stomach again, carving his name into my skin. Tears streamed down my face, and I bit my lip to keep from screaming._

"Clary! Clary… Clary, wake up!" someone said, shaking my shoulder.

I bolted up and saw that everyone was looking at me from across the room, except for Jace who sat next to me with his hands on my shoulders. Everyone had a frightened look on their faces. I must've been screaming, because tears streamed down my face and my throat felt dry.

"Clary, are you okay?" Simon asked from across the room.

I nodded my head not trusting myself to speak.

"Are you sure?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah, I just had a stupid nightmare," I lied. Luckily, I had been a really good liar because everyone started laughing- I laughed along with them. Everyone except Jace was laughing. He was tense, with his hands still on my shoulders gripping them lightly.

"It was about my dad and brother," I said telling them, wanting them to believe me. "Do you know who Valentine and Jonathan Morgenstern are?" I asked them.

"Morgenstern! From the circle?" Jordan asked.

"Are they your- Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Izzy said giving me a hug. Hesitently, I hugged her back.

"Let's just watch the rest of the movie," I suggested.

Throughout the rest of the movie, I was aware of everyone's movements. Whenever Jace or Izzy's knees touched me, I flinched. Only Jace noticed, thankfully. He kept glancing at me as if he was scared I would start screaming any second. I hated it. Eventually, I was too tired to notice anyone anymore and slept into oblivion.

When I woke up, the movie screen was off and only Jace and I were in the room. We were closer than we were before, our thighs touching. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping, no smirk, no ability to wink. Everyone must've woken up and left the room after the movie. I slowly inched upwards, but Jace's arm wrapped around my waist pulling me into him. I tensed, but slowly relaxed into his hold. Before I fell back asleep, I could've sworn I saw Jace smiling.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi, after every chapter I'm going to have some characters reacting to the chapter, like this:**

 **CLARY** God! They are so annoying…

 **JACE** Annoyingly beautiful, well except for rat face.

 **SIMON** Hey!

 **JACE** Hey what? It's true.

 **IZZY** It is not!

 **JACE** Stop defending your boyfriend Iz.

 **IZZY** I am not his boyfriend! *Looks over at Simon guiltily

 **CLARY** See what I mean God? They're so annoying.

 **JACE** *Smirks*Annoyingly-

 **CLARY** Just stop Jace, just stop…

 **Anywho** **? I hope you enjoy the story**. **PS this is my first fanfiction! Criticism is welcome, just please no hate! And updates might be slow... sorry, but anyways if my parents find out i have this i wont be able to upload anymore... Just wanted to let you all know :)**


	2. chapter 2

**Chapter** **Two**

When I woke up, Jace was no longer there, thankfully. That was one less embarrassing encounter I'd have to face. I sat up and stretched, extending my arms.

I got up off the couch and headed into the kitchen. Izzy was the only one there. The room smelt like burnt hair, and I held in my instinct to gag.

"Clary!" she said. "Want some eggs?" she asked showing me the pot.

I stepped back staring at the completely burnt eggs. "Um, actually Izzy I'm not really hungry right now, so I'm just gonna go upstairs to my room and you know just uhh… chill?" As if on instinct, my stomach growled.

"Are you sure? Cause you sound like your hungry," she asked.

"Izzy, don't torture the girl. She'll leave here before you even get the chance to dress her up," Sebastian said coming into the room laughing.

"Ugh!" she yelled. "Why does no one appreciate my cooking?"

"Who let Izzy in the kitchen?" I heard Maryse say walking in. "Oh dear that smells," she said scrunching up her nose.

"Fine," she said setting down the pan on the counter. "Then how about we go out to town and eat at Taki's?"

"I don't know dear. It's a hour away, and I'm sure Clary and her parents just want to finish unpacking and get settled in," Maryse said.

"Oh Maryse you're too kind, but I wouldn't want to keep the children from going out," my mom said walking into the kitchen. "Luke and I don't mind if they go."

"Are you sure?" Maryse asked. "Because we can all go another time."

"No it's fine, really," she replied.

"Who let Izzy cook again?" Magnus asked coming into the kitchen. "No offense Iz, but it smells."

Izzy sighed. "So I've been told," she muttered.

"What is that smell?" Jace asked sauntering into the kitchen. He was wearing a black t-shirt with jeans. He was also smirking, surprise surprise.

Izzy sighed again. "Okay okay. I get it. Can we just go mom?"

"Sure, but make sure you clean up before you leave," Maryse replied.

All the parents left, leaving me, Izzy, Sebastion, Magnus, and Jace alone.

"What died in here?" Alec asked coming into the kitchen.

Izzy screamed in frustration. "I'm leaving in five minutes, and whoever's in the car is going to Taki's," she yelled. "So whoever wants to go better get ready fast."

Everybody left the room to get ready except for Sebastian and me.

"That's Izzy for you," he said chuckling.

I laughed with him. "Is it always like this in the morning?"

He smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth. "Not always. Unless Izzy decides she wants to try a new recipe in the cook book. "

I laughed smiling.

"You a have a beautiful laugh," he complemented.

I blushed a light shade of red. "Thanks, I um have to go get ready." I hurried out of the room not waiting to see his reaction to my unusual awkwardness, but I could hear him laughing as I left.

Usually I would flirt back a little, but after the last year I just didn't have it in me. Sadly, I still had the ability to blush though. As soon as I reached my room I got ready as fast as I could. I was outside and in the car in four minutes, just in time.

"Where is Jace?" Izzy complained. "I don't want to have to wait for him again."

"Then don't," I suggested. "You said so yourself that you weren't going to wait for anybody."

"You're right. I'm not going to wait this time," she said. Izzy started the car and revved the engine. As soon as she started pulling out of the driveway Jace walked outside of the house.

"You've got to be kidding me," Maia muttered.

"He does this every single time," Simon complained.

Jace continued walking out to car without a care in the world. He reached open the door and climbed in sitting on the open seat.

Everyone glared at Jace.

"What?" he asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

Everyone groaned in frustration, including me.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **CLARY:** I don't think I've met anyone anymore annoying than you Jace, and that's saying a lot considering I met your cousin Will.

 **JACE:** I seriously can't be that bad, can I?

 **CLARY:** *Glares at Jace*

 **JACE:** Actually. Don't answer that question.

 **i updated this one pretty quickly! enjoy 3**


	3. chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews I love you all!**

The car ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, except for the fact that Izzy almost killed everyone three times with her driving. Who knew someone could be so bad at driving? When we arrived at the so called restaurant Taki's I was not impressed.

"This is your favorite restaurant?" I asked warily. It didn't look like much, but I doubted there was anything better here in this small town.

"World's best," Jace stated, a grin on his face. "You won't find anything like it."

"I have no doubt about that," I muttered, stepping inside. I had to admit it was pretty nice, mesmerizing even. Jace was right, I had never seen anything like it. The entire little restaurant was lit up with different varieties of colored lights, which thankfully weren't strobe lights. A soft hum of music played in the backround and I was convinced Jace had led us to some sort of club.

"Welcome to the one and only, Taki's," Jace announced, throwing his arm around my shoulder. I flinched from the sudden contact. Jace shot me a look.

I shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Hello, my name is Aline and I'll be your waitress today. Please follow me," said a girl dressed in a very revealing uniform. She wore a shirt skirt that stopped just above mid thigh, and her shirt didn't cover much either. I was definitely starting to believe in my club theory, but everyone seemed at ease.

Especially Jace, he was walking next to Aline flirting with her. He kept winking at any girl we passed. He winked at an old lady for crying out loud!

"Does Jace always do this?" I whispered to Izzy.

"Sadly," she replied, "But he wasn't always like this. Everything changed after my little brother died. Jace blames himself for his death."

I was shocked. From what I had observed about Jace so far I had concluded that Jace had the perfect life. "If you don't mind me asking, but what. . . what happened?"

Izzy shrugged. "It's not my story to tell. But believe it or not, he used to be a lot worse. He used to go out to the city every other day bringing girls home. He was completelt out of control. Alec and I tried to stop him. We reminded him of our little brother and how he wouldn't have wanted this, but that only seemed to make it worse."

I didn't know what to say.

"I know it comes across as surprising, but Jace isn't actually that bad considering everything he's been through. There's a reason my parents adopted him," Izzy said, a frown on her face. It looked unnatural on her flawless face.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Jordan asked interrupting our conversation. Everyone was already sitting down in the huge booth across the room.

I looked towards Izzy, but she was already walking towards them smiling. I followed her.

I sat down next to Sebastian who sat across from Jace. Sebastian smiled at me. I returned the smile, picking up the menu.

"Fried cow legs?" I asked, a look of disgust evident on my face, "Boiled hamsters? What kind of menu is this?"

Magnus chuckled. "Oh biscuit that's tthe dare devil menu. Turn it over for the normal food.

I flipped it over to the normal side. "What do you mean by dare devils menu?"

"Those are for the people who like trying different kinds of food. People from all over the world come to try Taki's food," he replied.

I turned to face Jace. "You weren't kidding when you said this was the world's best, were you?"

Jace looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. "There's one thing you should know about me red. I don't lie."

"Listen up goldilocks," I snapped, "my name isn't red. And two can play at that game."

Simon bursted out laughing.

"Listen up rat face, if you-" Jace started to say, but got interrupted by Izzy.

"Not now Jace. I'd be nice to Simon, he's on your team this weak," she said.

"His team?" I asked confused.

"Strawberry shortcake over here doesn't know about the games?" Jace asked.

"Should I?"

"Because they're tonight," Sebastian explained.

I looked at Magnus for help.

Magnus sighed. "The games happen in the woods every other week," he explained. "We split up in teams of four. There's three rounds. Round One starts at ten o'clock. Round two at midnight, and the final round at two o'clock in the morning."

"What do you do for each of the rounds?" I asked.

"Round One is capture the flag," Izzy clarified. "It usually lasts for about an hour, so then the teams have time to strategize for round two, which we call shadowhunters."

Simon must've seen my confused face because he started explexplaining how to play. "It's where one team are the demons and the other team are the hunters. The demons hide a key for the hunters to find and the demons go around looking for the hunters. If a demon tags you, you have to go back to your starting position for five minutes. Once a hunter finds the key without getting caught they win. If they don't find the key in an hour the demons win."

"So basically the hunters try to find the key and the demons are trying to stop them from finding it?" I asked.

"Yeah, and whoever wins gets a head start for the final round," Maia said.

"What's the final round?"

"We have a race to the end of the forest and back to see who gets to chose the game," Izzy explained.

"And whoever has the most points wins the games. Round one is worth one point. Round two is worth two points. The race gives you an extra point if you win and the final race is worth three points."

"Okay I get it now," I said.

"We call Clary for our team. That way it's boys against girls. Plus Magnus on our team," Maia announced.

"So then it's settled. Everyone meet at the rock at nine thirty so we have time to hide our flags," Simon said.

"Nine thirty it is," Jace said.

"Wait, but that Clary's here they have an extra person," Izzy said. "That's unfair."

Alec sighed. "We'll just give you guys a ten second head start in the race then"

"Okay, then let the games begin," Magnus declared.


	4. chapter 4

**Chapter** **Four**

I had never seen someone so on edge, and that was saying a lot, considering the fact that I had lived with my mom when Valentine and Jonathan had left us. I felt nauseous just thinking about them. The funny part was that Izzy was on edge for a stupid reason. The games.

If I was being honest, I honestly didn't know why everyone was so on edge for these games, especially if they had them every week.

"Clary!" Izzy yelled, "why aren't you worried about the games? It's your first time."

"Should I have a reason to be worried?" I asked.

Magnus sighed. "Izzy I don't think anyone told her about it yet."

"You're kidding right?" she yelled in exasperation. "I told Jordan and Alec to tell Clary. They must of thought that if she didn't know then they'd have an advantage."

"Guys you do know that I'm right here. I can hear you. What aren't you telling me?" I asked annoyed.

Izzy, Maia, and Magnus shared a look.

"It seriously can't be that bad, can it?" I asked.

"Well," Izzy started, "let's just say that when a new person joins the game there's a ritual that they have to complete."

"A ritual? What kind of ritual?" I asked.

"Technically we're not allowed to tell you, but we can tell you what ours were," she explained.

I sat on Izzy's bed unpatiently. "Well, are you gonna tell me?"

"Yeah, but first you need to know that how you react to the ritual determines whether or not our team gets extra points or not. If you react normally and rationally then we get an extra point, but if you don't then the other team gets two points," Izzy explained.

I shook my head in confusion. "What do you mean how I react? What are they gonna do pretend somebody died and see how I react?"

"Well they might," Maia said. "Technically you never know."

"Maia why don't you tell biscuit your ritual story," Magnus said.

"Sure," she said, turning to face me. "I joined the games about two weeks after Jordan and I got into a relationship."

"Wait!" I said. "So you're saying that technically I didn't have to do these stupid games."

"Well yeah but…"

I sighed. "Whatever just continue the story."

Maia continued. "So the night before the games after dinner, Jordan came up to me and broke up with me. Or so I thought he did. So I said I was tired and wasn't feeling well and didn't participate in the games. That cost my teams chance at winning, and Jordan's team ended up winning and they betted on us having to be there servants until the next games."

I shuddered. "I can't even imagine being any of your guys' servants."

"Even me biscuit?" Magnus asked with stupid puppy dog eyes.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. It was definitely an unfamiliar sound, my laugh. It had been too long since I had felt myself laugh around other people. "Definitely you Magnus."

He smirked. "Whatever biscuit. You love me."

I rolled my eyes and turned to Izzy. "What was your ritual?"

Izzy shuddered and her eyes turned into a glossy black. "They used Max with me. They pretended to kidnap Max in front of me and I couldn't save him. I had thought I lost Max, and I started breaking down crying. I called off the games so we could look for Max and call 911, but then Max ran up behind Jace with a huge smile on his face and said 'I did what you asked now where's my money'. Max wanted Jace to be proud of him, even if it was for something stupid like that. Max idolized Jace." Izzy laughed at the memory and started crying. "And now he's gone, and he's never coming back."

I didn't know what to say. "Izzy I'm sorry you didn't have to tell me that. I... I-"

"It's fine," she said wiping her eyes, "I just wanted you to know how serious they are about these rituals."

"How about we forget about the rituals for now and just relax until dinner," I suggested.

Everybody nodded, not wanting to say anything to upset Izzy any further. So for the next few hours, we sat in Izzy's room relaxing and talking until dinner, unaware that somebody was already setting up Clary's ritual in the kitchen.

 **Author's Note:** _PLEASE READ!!_ **If any of you are confused about the games or the rituals just let me know and I'll try to clear it up. I might go back later and explain it more, but anyways what do you think Clary's ritual will be? LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK THE RITUAL WILL BE** ***Cough cough* its TOTALLY not because I dont have any idea on what its supposed to be**

 **Clary:** I wonder what my ritual will be...

 **Jace:** Yeah me to

 **Clary:** So your saying you don't even know what it is yet!

 **Jace:** Hey it's not my fault!

 **Clary:** *rolls eyes* suuurrreeee

 **Author (me):** It's true, im sorry... (starts mumbling stupid excuses) writers block and having a lack of information makes it hard to come up with ideas


	5. chapter 5

**Chapter** **Five**

As we were walking towards the kitchen, I felt uneasy. We were all laughing and joking, but there was a certain tightness in the air that changed the mood. I was on edge, expecting the worse.

But as I walked into the kitchen no body was there except for the parents. A part of me relaxed a little because I assumed they weren't going to pull anything in front of the parents.

I turned to Izzy shrugging.

"Izzy?" Mayrse asked. "Where are the rest of the boys?"

Izzy shrugged. "Why should I know?"

"We're right here," Jace said strolling into the kitchen along with Simon, Jordan, and Alec.

The door bell rang.

"Clary why don't you go get it?" Jace asked suspiciously.

I shrugged. There was no way around the ritual anyways.

As I made my way to the front door I felt like somebody was watching me. I slowly walked to the front door, which seemed far away. Every step I took the floor boards creaked.

"Just go Clary," I muttered to myself.

I continued towards the door. I was at least five steps away. Four steps. Three steps.

The doorbell rang again. I paused. I took one more step. I reached for the door and slowly twisted it open. A pizza man stood there with five boxes of pizzas.

I eyed him carefully, expecting him to jump out at me. He looked annoyed.

"Are you gonna take the pizza and pay or what?" he asked.

I mumbled a short sorry and stuck out my hand signaling for him to hold on. I walked back to the kitchen quickly.

"Did somebody order pizza?" I asked.

Robert stuck up his hand. "That would be me," he said. "Here take this." He handed me two twenties.

I took the money and went back to the front door. As I opened the front door again I realized no body was there anymore. No pizza man. No pizza.

I turned around and yelled back to everyone in the kitchen. "Hey guys! He's not there anym-."

A hand had covered my mouth, and a voice whispered in my ear. "If you say another word you're dead."

Any thoughts of the ritual flew out of my head. I was frozen still. A cold hard metal object was pressed up against my head. I assumed it was a gun. The feeling was all too familiar.

"Now, you're going to follow me," he ordered, his voice deep and gravelly. "If you scream your punishment will only be worse."

I locked eyes with him. His eyes were so deep and dark, like a bottomless hole. They were pulling me in, making me panic. Those eyes were my brother's eyes. And I knew them all too well.

 _Slap. I dared looked up into his hard rigged black eyes. In that moment I knew I had made a mistake. The hard stare felt painful, although it would only last as long until he found a way to punish me for my mistake._

 _"You dare look me in the eyes," he growled. Kick._ _"You dare think you are strong enough." Kick. I felt another bruise forming. "You. Are. Weak," he drawled out. "You. Are. Nothing."_

At _this point I knew my ribs were already broken. They had been for awhile now. So I let myself slip away into the darkness._

"I'm not afraid to kill you," he seethed. "Come now or die."

Honest to God, I would've moved if I could, but I was frozen. My whole body shook.

"Last chance," he growled.

My mind reeled, and I thought back to when Jace had walked into the kitchen. Everybody was there, except for Sebastian. I looked back into his eyes, and saw what I was looking for. Hesitancy. Not something that I was too familiar with.

When I had been with my father and brother, I had never seen such hesitancy in their eyes. Just cold blooded hatred. I cleared my throat and pulled all of my hatred and fear that had been sitting there for the past year.

And I took a chance that I should've taken when I had been kidnapped by my father and I screamed. A blood curdling scream. I screamed for all of the things that had happened to me and all of the harsh words thrown at me. I screamed until my throat wouldn't let me scream anymore.

And finally I ran. I pushed out of his grip with all my force and ran.

As I ran into the front door I saw Jace and everybody else besides the parents standing there.

"Well done," said Jordan. "You passed."

I was still shaking. Not only was I shaking out of fear, but I was also shaking out of anger.

"That," I started slowly, "was audacious and rude."

"That was the point red," Jace pointed out.

"No dip Sherlock," I said angrily.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I flinched. Jace eyed me carefully.

"Let's just go eat now," Maia suggested.

"Good idea," Izzy agreed. "By the way, awesome job Clary. You got us an extra point."

I didn't reply. I walked straight into the house ignoring everyone's looks. To say I was mad was an understatement.

"What's wrong Clary?" Luke asked as I walked back into the kitchen. "Why were you screaming?"

"Sebastion and the boys thought it would be funny to scare me," I said angrily, my whole body shaking out of fear.

Mayrse looked at the boys coming into the kitchen. "You all are washing the dishes after dinner," she ordered.

The boys groaned and I heard Magnus laugh at their distress.

"Clary where's the pizza?" Jocelyn asked.

I groaned. "I guess I'll go get it."

I turned back and went towards the front door. As I opened it I heard a voice yell in pain. It was Sebastian sitting on the ground.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Look I'm sorry for fake kidnapping you. I didn't mean to scare you that much."

I rolled my eyes. "It's fine. I guess I expected that anyways."

He laughed. "Here," he said handing me a box of pizza and keeping the rest. "I think everybody is pretty hungry."

I didn't reply, still shaken up and we walked back into the kitchen. I set the box of pizza on the table and sat down in the nearest chair. Of course it was next to Jace I thought.

He turned to me. "Are you okay? You look really pale."

I shrugged. "Would you be okay if you got fake kidnapped?"

"Touche," he said smirking.

I closed my eyes and sighed. My hands were still shaking. I had a feeling that tonight was going to be a long night.

 **Author's Note: Guys this one took me so long to write. Sorry if it's not up to your standards. I tried. Also thank you guys so much for your reviews. It means a lot. xoxo**

 **Magnus:** Biscuit, you okay?

 **Clary:** *glares at everybody* Leave me alone

 **Jace:** Jesus women, looks like somebody let the cat out of the bag

 **Clary:** Now is not the time Jace

 **Jace:** So when is?

 **Clary:** *Sighs in frustration*


	6. chapter 6

**Chapter** **Six**

I was going to eat my dinner in my room by myself, so I excused myself from the kitchen. I didn't want to admit to it, but I was still badly shaken up from what had happened. It felt like all of my therapy sessions were for nothing, and I was back at square one.

Reliving that experience brought me back to another memory, and it definitely wasn't one I wanted to remember.

 _It was a normal day so far, uneventful. Except for the fact that I had just found out that my mom wanted us to move to Montana and go to Luke's farm house for the rest of the summer. To say I was mad was an understatement._

 _"Mom," I complained. "I can just stay here for the summer. I'm old enough. I can find a job at Starbucks or something."_

 _"Clary I said no and that's final," she said in her scary calm voice._

I _sighed in anger._

 _"Clary please understand," she pleaded. "With your father and brother on the loose we can't afford to stay here any longer. It's too risky."_

 _"Do we have to go so far away?" I complained. "All of my friends are here in New York."_

My _mom turned to Luke for help._

Luke _shrugged. "Your offspring, your problem."_

 _"Look Clary. We're moving and that's final," she stated._

 _"I hate you," I mumbled._

 _"I love you too," she replied laughing._

 _"I'm leaving," I replied sourly. "And I'm not coming back to this hellhole."_

I _started towards the door angrily._

 _"Clary Morgenstern come back here this instant," she scolded._

I _mumbled one last sour phrase towards her and little did I know that that would be_ _the last thing I said to her for a very long time._

A single tear slipped down my cheek at the memory. I had thought I was going to die and the last thing I said to my mother was that I hated her. It was a hard thing to think about, especially when my father brought it up.

 _"Ah Clarissa," he sighed. "You look so much like your mother now it's scary. I could almost…," he said stepping closer reaching for my face. "But I'll leave that for your brother to handle."_

 _I whimpered. I was going to be raped by my own brother. I threw up in mouth at the thought of it._

 _"Your mother was so beautiful," he sighed. "But then she had to go along and betray me by screwing that dirty scum bag Luke."_

 _It was still early on in the kidnapping, so I didn't know that acting out or talking would result in punishment. "Luke is not a scum bag," I spat out. "He's a great man."_

 _Slap. I yelled out in pain._

 _"Now now Clarissa. We wouldn't want anyone to know where we are now would we," he said smirking._

 _I struggled with the rope that tied me down. It was so tight it was cutting off my circulation. I couldn't move._

 _"Let go of me you monster!" I yelled._

 _Slap. "Tsk tsk tsk," he said. "I was going to wait a couple days to call in Jonathan, but it seems as if you need to learn a lesson," he scolded._

 _I screamed in fear. I thrashed in my ropes and wiggled, but it was impossible. I was never going to escape the inevitable._

 _"Jonathan," my father said, "she's all yours now."_

 _"Thank you father," he said smirking a devilish smirk. I knew from the glint in his eyes that I was about to experience the worst pain I would ever feel, and it would all be caused by my own brother._

 _Jonathan smirked, sauntering over to me. "Ready sis? It'll only hurt a little if you don't resist. But it's not like you'd be able to," he teased_.

 _He ripped off my clothes and the last thing I saw before things progressed was my evil father leaving the room laughing._

"Clary," I heard someone say calmly. "Clary are you all right?"

It was my mom. I hugged her as tightly as I could crying. "I love you mom," I cried out.

"I love you too dear," she replied. We sat their hugging each other for awhile before she spoke again. "You were doing so well sweety. What happened?"

I cried out again. "Every time I think I'm okay, I realize I'm not. I can't forget it. No matter how hard I try. I feel broken," I sobbed.

"Oh honey," she sobbed out rubbing my back soothingly. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't sprung the idea of moving at you, you might not have left."

"No mom," I cried, shaking. "They would've found me sooner or later. We had no way out of it."

"I'm sorry Clary, I'm so sorry," she mumbled into my hair. We sat their for hours until she left to go help the Lightwood's with something.

I sighed looking at my clock. It read 9:04. I had to go meet up with Izzy, Magnus, and Maia for the games. I fixed my mascara that was smeared from all my crying. My hand shook so badly that I had messed up a couple times, having to restart.

Finally, I had finished getting ready dressing up in all black, and pairing it with my black combat boots. By the time I was finished getting ready it was 9:15. I had to go to Izzy's room.

When I got to Izzy's room, everyone was sitting on her bed.

"Sorry I'm late. I fell asleep," I lied.

"It's fine," Izzy said smiling, but it faltered. "Are you okay Clary? You look like you were crying."

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Are you sure biscuit?" Magnus asked. "You look pale."

"Yeah," I replied softly. Magnus raised his hand up and started bringing it down. I flinched, thinking he was going to hit me. But his hand came down connecting with mine and turning into a high five.

Luckily, no body noticed and they all started cheering, hyping themselves up for the games. I tensed up at the loud noises they were making.

"Let's go," Izzy yelled, and we all marched out of her room, heading towards the dark withering forest.

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews. They were really helpful and made me realize I wasn't portraying Clary how I had originally wanted to. Also sorry again that this was another short chapter, but being the procrastionater I am I didn't do my homework, but I still wanted to update, so here yah go! :)) I'm going to start updating every other day now, now that school is starting again. I'll have homework and basketball... and my social life (surprisingly) so I might have hard times updating now. Byyyyeeee :))**

 **Me:** Dang I'm sorry Clary... I didn't realize I wasn't making you scared enough.

 **Clary:** It's fine... I didn't mind not being scared.

 **Me:** *Laughs nervously* Hopefully I'm not portraying others badly either


	7. author's note

**AUTHORS NOTE: GUYS IM SO SORRY! so as you all know school has started... like a week ago and i haven't updated... but I just wanted to let you know that im not giving up on this story but the updates will definitely be slower. I'll update tmrw tho... maybe two chapters. But school has been really hard for me lately because my best friend is kinda ditching me for MY other friends... and my grades suck rn and I need to get them up... and ive had basketball practice every day this week... Ugghhh! PLEASE FORGIVE ME IM SORRY. UPDATE COMING SOON :))** (Also normally I hate people who post these kind of things in between chapters but i just had to let you guys know)

PS IM GOING TO HAVE UPDATES EVERY WEEKEND FROM NOW ON


	8. chapter 7

When we got to the spot we agreed to meet at, all the boys were already sitting on a large rock. I took a deep breath calming myself down, or at least I was trying to. My hands were still shaking a little, and I felt tense all over.

"It's 9:29, so we're gonna have thirty minutes to hide our flags in the woods," Simon announced.

Izzy nodded her head. "Let's go guys," she said grabbing the flag.

"Let's go in 5…4…3…2…1," Everyone yelled, except for me. Jace's team went running into their side of the forest.

"Okay guys," Maia said, "let's get going."

We walked into our side of the dark forest slowly. The withered trees shook slowly with the slight breeze. Every step we took the crunchy leaves crunched underneath our feet.

I felt like we had been walking forever, but in reality we had been walking for about fifteen minutes.

"Guys," Magnus said, a grin forming on his face, "I think I know where we can put it." He pointed upwards to a tree. It had a hole in it for animals, and it was the perfect height. The rules were that you had to be able to reach the flag wherever it was.

Izzy grinned. "Perfect."

After putting the flag in our hiding spot we started running back towards the house. I honestly had no idea how they knew where they were going, but I guess having these games every month made it easier to find your way around these woods.

By the time we got back to the starting place it was 9:58. The boys were sitting on that same rock laughing. Jace's melodic laugh sounded through the woods, and then it was dead silent.

"It's time," Alec pointed out.

"And so it is," Magnus agreed.

Jace looked towards the withered trees and sighed. His golden eyes twinkled as he stared out into the forest. "So let the games begin," he said.

A second passed, and before I knew what was happening everyone was running into their side of the forest.

"Wait," I yelled out, "where are you guys going?"

Only Magnus turned around. "Biscuit," he yelled back, "come on, we need to go."

I rolled my eyes and took off running. My eyes watered from the cold wind nipping at my face.

By the time we got to the spot, Izzy started talking into a walkytalky that I didn't know she had. "Jace?" she asked. "You guys ready? Over."

A buzz of static sounded and Jace replied, "Yeah, let's go. Over."

Izzy tucked the walkytalky into her pocket and started giving orders. "Magnus you and Maia are on defense. Clary and I will go on the offense and split up when we get to their defenses. Magnus and Maia make sure you set up our defense far away from our flag just in case they get pass you."

Magnus and Maia nodded.

"Okay Clary. Let's go," Izzy said.

I nodded back completely confused. "So how do we get past their defenses?" I asked.

Izzy sighed. "Jace usually sets up by his flag," she pointed out. "He's confident that we won't get past his defenses. Usually it's him and Simon if it's boys versus girls. Jace wants a strong offense. He sees it as having an advantage. The quicker he finds the flag the quicker he wins."

I sighed softly. "You guys take these games really seriously you know?" I asked.

"I know," she replied. "We have nothing better to do out here in the middle of nowhere."

"I guess that's true, but why not just do it during the daytime?" I inquired.

She turned her head towards me and smirked. "It wouldn't be as fun, or dangerous." She winked and then said, "Here let's get going. We wouldn't want to run into anything now would we."

I rolled my eyes at her trying to scare me, but I still shuddered with fear. "Let's go," I said trying to keep my voice even.

We jogged deeper into the forest until we saw flashlights wavering around.

"Duck," Izzy whispered. "Get behind a tree and we'll flank them."

I did as she said. "How do we get past them?" I asked. "By tagging them?"

"No," she said smiling, "with this." She handed me a nerf gun.

I laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Did you hear that?" we heard Simon ask nervously.

"Calm down ratface. It's probably just a bird or something," Jace replied laughing. "Just make sure your nerf gun is loaded."

We peered around the tree and saw Simon and Jace standing next to each other with their nerf guns loaded and ready.

Izzy nodded at me and whispered, "Let's split up and surround them. Their flag is over their." She pointed out at their flag sitting out in the open. "You go for Jace and I'll go for Simon," she whispered.

I nodded back at her.

I quickly moved to the next tree in silence. So did Izzy. We had the advantage of surprise, so we would most likely get their flag. Izzy nodded again signaling for us to move to the next tree again.

I took a step to the right, but as I let my foot hit the ground a twig broke and leaves crunched. I quickly withdrew my foot back behind the tree, my heart thudding.

"Well," I heard Jace say, "It looks like we have company ratface."

 **Author's Note: I'm really sorry for not posting last week, but I had a lot going on. I'll try to post tomorrow, but no promises. Please review and let me know how you think the games are going so far, and if I should change anything.**

 **Simon:** Hey author?

 **Author (me):** Yeah?

 **Simon:** Are you ever going to give up on this story? Cause it seems like it when you forget to update.

 **Author (me):** Ummm... well. I'm definitely never ever going to abandon the story, but believe it or not Simon I actually have a social life... and a lot of homework.


	9. chapter 8

Previously:

 _I took a step to the right, but as I let my foot hit the ground a twig broke and leaves crunched. I quickly withdrew my foot back behind the tree, my heart thudding._ _"Well," I heard Jace say, "It looks like we have company ratface."_

Now:

I froze and glanced at Izzy. She was trying to tell me to keep going. I nodded my head and sprinted toward the next tree. It's not like we had the element of surprise anymore anyways.

Now we had completely flanked them. Jace and Simon had their backs to each other. Each of them were facing the forest.

"We know you're there," Jace called out. "How about you guys just step out and make this easier for yourselves."

"Yeah," Simon said, "what he said."

Izzy snorted. A hint of a smile rose on my face. I was _actually_ having fun.

"Now now Jace," Izzy started saying, "You know I don't give up that easily."

"True true. But you do loose that easily," he replied.

Izzy nodded at me to go for their flag, while she distracted them.

"You do know I could shoot you right now, right? And you do know that I never miss?"

I quietly inched towards their flag, that lay out in the open. I could see Jace and Simon both facing Izzy now. It was my chance. All I had to do was shoot Jace and grab the flag.

"Ahh yes, but you see Izzy the problem is that you aren't going for me are you?" Jace replied.

I had to go now if we wanted a chance.

"Clary is. Aren't you Red?" he called out. He was turning around in circles. He didn't know where I was I realized. When Jace's back was faced towards Izzy I jumped out and put my gun to his head.

"Move and I shoot," I ordered. I glanced at Izzy and saw that Jace had his gun up towards Izzy. Her gun was also aimed at Simon.

Simon had his gun pointed at me. We all were armed and ready to shoot.

"Well isn't this interesting?" Jace said smirking. The lapels of his black jacket ruffled in the wind, along with his hair.

"It is isn't it?" I replied. I was done feeling weak and broken. I wasn't going to let my father and brother win. Especially after everything they had done to me. They had been controlling my life ever since I had been kidnapped and tortured. Whether I knew that or not.

Jace nodded. "If only-"

Izzy coughed loudly. As if she was doing it on purpose. I looked at her. Her eyes were darting back and forth between Jace and my gun. She was nodding at me?

I nodded back. "Izzy come on stop playing around," I said. "Let's go."

And then we sprung into action. Izzy swept her leg at Simon and he fell over the gun falling from his grasp, while I shot at Jace, but he had ducked out of the way.

His gun was now pointing at me. I didn't need a nod from Izzy to tell me that I needed to run. So I did. He shot the Nerf gun, and everything happened in slow motion.

The bullet was flying towards me. I jumped towards the ground and rolled into a somersault and then landing back on my feet. Izzy reloaded her gun and shot Jace straight in the back, while I picked up the flag and held it above my head.

We had won. We beat Jace's team. A part of me had felt like I had just won something bigger, like I overcame myself and pulled through.

I threw the flag at Izzy and she caught it. I looked down at Jace and smirked. "Well isn't this interesting?"

"It is isn't it?" he said using the same exact words I had used.

I offered my hand to him. After a moment's hesitation he took it. His grasp felt warm and firm in my own. I pulled him up and let go immediately.

"Hello boys," Magnus said coming from behind Simon and Izzy.

"Look who we found," Maia said gesturing towards Alec, Sebastian, and Jordan. The bullets of the Nerf guns were stuck on their shirts.

Izzy laughed. "Well, it looks like we won."

"You bet," Magnus agreed.

All the boys rolled their eyes.

"Meet us back at the rock in forty minutes. Round two starts in fifty minutes," Jace said. "Let's go guys."

And so, the guys left us alone so that we could strategize for the next round.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. "That… that was kinda fun."

"Oh biscuit," Magnus said, "if you thought that was fun wait for the last round."

"So how many points do we have from winning that?" I asked.

"Only one," Izzy replied, "but every point is worth it."

"So now what?" I asked. "We strategize?"

"Exactly," Maia said. "Strategizing for this round is very important for us because we won."

I rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Since we won we get to choose whether we want to be the demons or shadowhunters," she said smiling. "We have an advantage because the boys don't know which we're going to choose. They have to strategize for both."

"That's why winning the first round is so important," Izzy explained.

"So what are we going to choose?" I asked.

"Well," Izzy said, "they're going to expect us to choose the demons since they're the easiest for this round."

"So we're gonna choose shadowhunters," Manus verified.

Izzy nodded. "So… here's what we're going to do."

And so, we started strategizing for the next thirty minutes until we had to go back.

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry that this one is so short. I promise I'll make the next one a little longer. Anyways please give me some criticism so that I can improve on my writing and this story.**

 **Izzy:** *starts singing* All we do is win win win, no matter what!

 **Everyone:** *covers ears*

 **Izzy:** What? Is it the song?

 **Author(me):** *sighs* and this is why I don't make you sing in this story


	10. chapter 9

Previously:

 _Izzy nodded. "So… here's what we're going to do."_

 _And so we started strategizing for the next thirty minutes until we had to go back._

Now:

My head ached from all of the strategizing we had just done. I had thought all we had to do was just look around for a key and try not to get tagged by a demon, but nope. I was wrong.

"Izzy," I asked, rubbing my temples, "Don't you think we should start heading back?"

"We still have five minutes," I heard her say before she started strategizing again.

I took this time to look around. Magnus had his hand on his head with his eyes closed. I doubted he was still listening. Maia was nodding slightly at Izzy, but her eyes were faintly shutting.

"Izzy," I said standing up. "We need to go back. Now. Or we'll be late."

"Fine," she mumbled. "Let's go."

"I think you just bored them all to sleep," I mumbled.

Izzy shot me a glare. My only response was a smirk.

By the time we got back we only had a few seconds to spare. The guys were lounging on top of smooth rocks laughing. I doubted they had even talked about the next round.

Izzy whistled, getting their attention. I thought I saw Simon drooling out of the corner of my eye. I silently snorted. "Magnus," she asked.

"Yes dear?" he replied smoothly.

"Do you mind telling them what we chose?"

Magnus smirked. "Of course not Izzy darling."

Jace laughed. The sound of it echoed throughout the forest. "I think we all know what you guys chose."

"See for yourself," Izzy mocked.

"Well…" Jordan asked. "What'd you chose?"

Magnus snickered, "If you must know. We chose Shadowhunters."

They were quiet. A second passed.

"You chose shadowhunters?" Simon asked. "Rationally speaking here, you now have a 64% chance of losing."

Jace chuckled. "Rat face, whose side are you on? We wouldn't want them chaning their minds now would we?"

Simon blushed.

"Enough with the bantering," Izzy ordered. "You have five minites to hide this." Her hand reached out from her black jacket. She held an old rusty key in the palm of her hand. Reaching out, she dropped the key on the rock. It landed without a sound. "Your time starts now."

Jace sauntered over to the rock. Slowly, he picked up the old key and turned around. The last thing we saw was Jace shaking his head in disbelief walking into the dark forest, with the rest of the guys following after him.

"Now what?" I asked.

Maia sighed softly. "We wait."

After a couple of minutes, Izzy pulled out her walkie talkie. "You guys only have a minute left, are you ready? Over."

Static buzzed. "We're ready. Over."

"Then let the game begin," she responded. "Over."

Izzy quickly stuffed the walkie talkie back into her jacket pocket. "Alright," she began saying, "Jace and his team don't know that I set them up."

"You set them up?" I asked astounded.

"Weren't you guys listening at all?" she asked.

"Well…"

She groaned. "Whatever, but here," she said handing me a black light flashlight.

"What is this?" Maia asked.

"A blacklight flashlight," Izzy answered. "This morning I put on a special subtance on the bottom of their shoes and the key. We'll be able to tell where they went if we shine these flashlights on the ground. See?"

Izzy pointed her flashlight on the ground and surely enough, we could see their foot steps on the ground. "All we have to do is follow the right pair. Jace's are right here she said pointing."

I was shocked. "Where did you get the subtance?

I thought I saw her blush, but it was too dark to tell. "I got it from Simon's room," she replied. "He showed me it one time. He is a nerd, so he does like that kind of stuff."

Magnus and Maia laughed.

"Isn't this cheating though?" I inquired.

"No, not necessarily," she responded. "We have a special rulebook that we keep adding to if something becomes unfair. So this will probably be added to it after the games."

I hesitated. "Don't you think that if we win then it wouldn't be--"

"Clary," she said. "They've done stuff like this before too. We add a new rule to the rulebook at least once every other week."

"I-- whatever. Let's just go…"

So, we all set off following different footsteps. I was following Jace's. Izzy was following Simon's. Maia was following Jordan's, and Magnus was following Alec's. We could only hope that Sebastian wasn't the one to hide the key. Their footsteps had separated around a minute of walking. I was heading north, while everyone else was heading east and west.

Around a couple minutes later I had heard ruffling in the leaves ahead. I shut off my flashlights, and quickly scanned the area for a hiding spot. There was nothing. Nothing.

My eyes wandered upwards. I didn't hesitate as I started climbing the tree as quickly and quietly as I could. When I was as high as I could go without completely endangering my life, I stopped and listened. I could hear voices. Two of them. Jace and Alec, I realized. Alec must've turned back towards Jace. That means Magnus must be close.

"They're following our footsteps," Alec said. "Simon noticed his blacklight flashlights missing."

"What should we do?" I heard Jace ask.

Alec sighed. "I don't know. We could set up a trap."

Then suddenly I felt an itchy sensation at the back of my nose. Oh come on, I thought. I couldn't sneeze now. But, despite my attempt at keeping my sneeze at bay, I sounded at loud, "ACHOOO."

I didn't dare make a sound after that. I held in my breath. Everything was silent until Jace spoke.

"What the hell was that?"

"It was probably just the wind," Alec replied, and surely enough a gust of wind came through sounding an awfully a lot like my sneeze.

"Whatever," Jace said. "Let's go find some supplies to build a trap."

So, they wandered away heading back north. I didn't dare move until I knew they were completely gone. I climbed down the tree quickly, not wanting them to head back to set their trap. I landed on the ground with a thud.

"Biscuit?" I heard a voice call from above me. I looked upwards and saw Magnus sitting on a tree branch a couple of trees away from mine.

"Magnus! What the heck are you doing here?"

"I followed Alec's footsteps here and I saw you starting to climb a tree. That's when I heard their voices and climbed up the nearest one as quickly as I could."

As soon as he got back on the ground, he wiped off the dirt on his bedazzled black jacket. "I got sap all over it," he pouted.

A smile tugged at the bottom of my lips. "Seriously, that's what you care about right now? Not that Jace and Alec are currently setting up a trap for us?"

Magnus shrugged. "I'd rather look good getting beat than lookin like trash and be winning."

I rolled my eyes and turned my flashlight back on. "Let's go find ourselves a key."

"Let us go indeed," was his only response.

~~~

I felt like we had been walking for ages. "Magnus?" I asked.

"Yes biscuit?"

I sighed. "How long has it been since we started round two."

He glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes."

"So we still have forty minutes to find the key?"

He nodded. "How do you think the others are doing?"

"Hopefully well," I responded.

"Hopefully indeed."

We continued walking for a couple more minutes until we heard a voice. "Well well well… What do we have here?" Jace said in a calm, unhurried tone.

I whirled around to face Jace and his companion, Alec, standing next to him. Jace's lips curled up a fraction of an inch before he said. "Well this is interesting."

I didn't reply. His lips curled back down.

I risked a glance at Magnus. He was looking at me already, urging me to run.

Magnus let out a heavy sigh. "Interesting, doesn't quite capture what this is. I find that the word entertaining, fits the situation perfectly."

And that's when I bolted. I ran west hoping that if I ran far enough I would run into Izzy. I could hear footsteps crunching on the leaves behind me. I quickened my pace, and didn't dare look back.

 **Author's Note: This one was definitely longer than the kast few chapters. I hope you enjoyed because I worked really hard on this chapter. You can expect an update tomorrow (Saturday). _BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY:_** I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed the story... just kidding, but in all seriousness **read this:** I need help on how to make the characters more dynamic. I feel like they are all acting as static characters with no diversity.

 **Izzy:** *keeps talking about strategizing*

 **Meanwhile Everyone else:** *sleeping on the ground snoring*

 **Izzy:** So that's my plan...

 **Magnus:** *snores extra loudly*

 **Izzy:** *SCREAMS IN FRUSTRATION*


	11. chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'd just like to start off by saying how much I appreciate your guy's reviews and what not. Especially the last few. You guys really motivate me to try and work harder on each and every chapter. So thank you. If you guys want to see something happen in the future chapters just let me know and ill try to incorporate it into the story. Anyways thanks loves!** **enjoy**

Previously:

 _And that's when I bolted. I ran west hoping to run into Izzy if I got that far. I could hear footsteps crunching on the leaves behind me. I quickened my pace, and didn't dare look back._

Now:

I felt like I had been running for ages. The sound of footsteps had stopped awhile ago, but who knew what Jace and Alec were planning. Slowly, I fell into a jog. Then a walk. And then I completely stopped.

My breaths were harsh and ragged. I really needed to get out more often.

"Clary?" a familiar voice asked.

"Izzy?"

"I'm over here," she called.

I followed the voice until I reached a large evergreen tree. Izzy was barely noticeable underneath all of the bristles and branches.

"What the heck are you doing under there?" I asked.

She rose an eyebrow. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm hiding."

I rolled my eyes. "You're supposed to be looking for the key," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well Simon and Jordan just ran past," she hissed. "And why are you so out of breath?"

"Either Jace or Alec were chasing me. They caught Magnus."

Izzy sighed. "Dang…"

"Also," I pointed out, "they know that we're tracking their footsteps and the key."

"We still have twenty minutes, but we're going to have to find it soon."

I furrowed my eyebrows together. "Why?"

"Usually they have someone hiding by the key so that they can tag anyone who gets near it."

I sighed. "Of course they do."

We sat in silence for a couple of seconds before Izzy gasped. "I overheard Simon and Jordan talking earlier, but I didn't realize before. They said that they put it where we would never think of finding it."

I shrugged. "Yeah… so what?"

"Well where would you never look for it?"

"Izzy I don't know. Just tell me."

She grinned. "The rock."

I gaped at her. "Jace was distracting me from seeing them hide it."

"Simon did the same thing," she muttered.

"Jordan must've to Maia, and Alec to Magnus. Which leaves Sebastian…"

"Sebastian hid the key," she yelled.

"Shhhhh!!!!" I whisper-yelled back. "Let's go."

So, Izzy and I ran towards the rock we had decided to meet at. When we got their Izzy said we had ten minutes to grab the key.

I sighed as my eyes assessed the situation. Sebastian wasn't alone as he was sitting on the rock… next to Jace.

"You've got to be kidding me?" I muttered.

"Now what?" Izzy asked.

I sighed letting out a breath. "I don't know."

"We need a distraction," she said, "but as soon as one of us goes after the distraction the other will just stay…"

"If we had another person we might be able to."

"We don't have time to go get someone else," Izzy complained. "We're gonna have to take the risk. We only have eight minutes left."

"I'll be the distraction," I decided, "As soon as I get either Jace or Sebastian to follow me, you're gonna have to do your best to get the key."

She nodded. "I think I like this side of you," she said grinning.

I rolled my eyes, but agreed with her nonetheless. I had completely forgotten about my past, which was a hard thing to do for me. I decided to keep it that way… at least for the rest of the night.

So, being the distraction and all, I went to do my job. I pretended to step on a twig (multiple twigs if I wasn't lying).

"Looks like we have company," Jace said sighing. "Might as well come out now…"

I hesitantly stepped out from the large trees we were behind.

"Looks like Red was smart enough to figure it out," Jace laughed.

I held in the urge to roll my eyes.

"But," he drawled out, "the question is… whether or not someone else did too."

"Sadly," I replied, "after you got Magnus, I was left by myself."

"It is isn't it," he replied with a wink.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. They still didn't know Izzy was here.

"Six minutes," Sebastian said.

My eyes roamed around the area. I pulled out my blacklight flashlight. I might as well go down letting Izzy know where the key is so she didn't have to find it. I flashed it around the area.

I continued doing so until I saw an outline of a key and I could only hope Izzy saw it.

"Five minutes," Sebastian noted.

And then suddenly I heard a squeal, which sounded an awful lot like Izzy. Simon and Jordan walked over with Izzy in their hands. She was squirming and yelling. "Let me go you jerks!"

Well, there went our chance.

"Four minutes," Sebastian indicated, once again.

I had no idea how I was going to get the key now.

"On our way over here," Jace stated, "we also ran into another part of your team. You can bring her out now."

Alec stepped out of the woods along with Maia and Magnus. I sighed. There really was no chance anymore.

"Two minutes."

I took a step forward. "You guys might have won this round, but the last round is ours."

Jace tsked. "There's only one problem with that sentence Red, and it's that we're going to win the last round," he said gesturing towards his team. "And when we do win, you're gonna have to… what did we vote on again?"

"We didn't," Izzy mumbled.

"Well I guess we'll have to do that before the race," Jace muttered. "But more importantly, there's only thirty seconds left."

I sighed. There was only two more options left. Either give up (which I wasn't about to do), or dive for the key that was about five feet away.

So I dove. As I was in mid air Jace reacted and stepped out in front of me, causing me to fall on top of him instead of the key.

I was sprawled out on top of him. I cursed.

"If you wanted me that badly Red you could've asked instead of throwing yourself at me," he said smirking. I pushed off of him groaning. Seriously, does this guy actually know how to smile?

"You don't always have to be so full of yourself," I said mumbling before I ordered, "Let's go."

They didn't need to be told twice to know to follow after me

 **Very Important Author's Note: _PLEASE READ THIS:_** Guys I couldn't be happier for everything that you've been doing for me

and this story, but I need to ask you guys something I'd really appreciate. my cousin, whom lives with me, has been influenced by her "friends" who aren't so good and are leading her down a bad path. she's really a good person and probably my best friend and I hate how clueless and stupid shes being. So to all of you who pray, id really appreciate it if you guys would continuing praying for her for the next week. Thank you guys so much! if i get around to it I'll try to update tomorrow, but im pretty busy and have a lot of homework. So if not ill update for you guys next weekend. ~mads


	12. author's note 2

**I'm sorry there's going to be a lack of updates. I just found out my cousin's mom is dead. My mom is crying and the house is dead silent except for her sobs. i just finished getting surgery and my mouth hurts. but not as much as my heart. please pray for my family. again im sorry for the lack of update to come, but i won't give up on this story... bye i have to** **go**

 **Also** **, ive realized that the ritual they do is probably the cruelest thing you could do to someone. pretend to have someone dead or kidnapped... My moms family always lied to her and she thought they were pulling a trick. A f* trick. And then she called her mom and asked if it was real. and the next thing i knew she was sobbing. Please dont pity me in the reviews, but the prayers would be nice. thank you**


	13. chapter 11

_Previously_ :

"Let's go," I ordered at the others.

They didn't need to be told twice to follow after me.

 _Now_ :

By the time we got back to our meeting place there was only ten minutes until the guys got here. We had ten minutes to decide who was going to be in the race for an extra two points.

"So biscuit," Magnus said sitting down on the nearest rock. "How do you feel about being the one to race?"

I shrugged. "Well wouldn't you guys be better at it than me? Since you guys know the course."

Izzy laughed. "Actually you're in luck. We decided to change it every other round now, so technically the only person who knows are the parents."

I sighed. "Well actually, I don't think I'm a very good candidate because I've never been that great at athletic stuff."

"You were pretty fast when you were running from Sebastian," Maia pointed out.

I paled.

"And you're small and tiny. You'll be able to go around the obstacles easily."

"Fine," I said, "but when I loose just know I'm going to say 'I told you so'."

"Don't worry biscuit," Magnus winked as if he knew something all of us didn't, "you'll win, and if not we always have the last round."

I groaned. "You better be right…"

I had never imagined myself in this situation in a thousand years. I had friends. If that's what you would call them. I was getting better, or so I thought, but every once in awhile I had panic attacks. If I was being honest I had expected a lot worse from moving, but it wasn't as terrible as I thought.

Living away from my old town in New York, has given me a sort of freedom that I didn't have the opportunity to have in New York. No body knew me except for my parents.

I have the opportunity to be someone I've always wanted to be. A strong, outgoing girl. So I promised myself I would change. I would be the best me I could be. Even if it was a broken little girl. I'd just have to learn to accept that. Eventually…

By the time the guys had gotten to our meeting spot, we were all sprawled on top of the rocks restlessly. I hadn't realized that I had almost fallen asleep thinking. Almost.

"Time to go Red," Jace said walking up to me. "We've gotten go to the obstacle course."

"Don't call me that," I said, sending a glare his way.

He threw me a lazy smile. "How's Strawberry Shortcake?"

I glared his way again.

"Oh come on Merideth don't be so critical."

This time I gave him an incredulous look. "Did you just call me Merideth? Like from the Disney movie Brave?"

His lazy smile turned into a grin. "Sure did Ariel."

"Ariel! Fine then Kristoff!" I said smugly.

"Did you just call me Kristoff… from Frozen?" he asked.

"Sure did."

His grin grew wider, if that was even possible. "Well then Princess Anna. I think we should get going," he said gesturing towards the empty clearing.

"She doesn't have red hair," I mumbled trudging beside him towards the obstacle course, hoping by blush wasn't too noticable.

He laughed. "That's what you get for comparing Kristoff to this." He gestured towards himself and I snorted.

"Cause you're much better," I said sarcastically.

"Much better," he said winking.

I paused. "You know… people say being humble is an attractive trait."

He smirked. "Only on ugly people."

I scoffed. I couldn't believe him. He was such an effrontery.

I didn't reply because I was now standing in front of a large river that stood in my way if I ever wanted to get to the other side, where everyone else was currently standing.

"How--?"

Jace cut me off. "See that rope," he said pointing towards a large tree. Sure enough a large rope hung from a sturdy branch. There was a foot hole at the bottom of it.

I started backing away, but I bumped into Jace. "No… there is no way I'm going on that thing."

A smile tugged on the bottom of his lips. "It's not as bad as you think it is," he reassured me. "Just run, jump, and hold on for dear life. And then BAM! your over the river."

I glanced back at the tree. There was no way I was going on that thing. I started shaking my head frantically.

But Jace was already walking towards the tree.

"Where are you going?" I yelled.

He didn't reply. I started walking towards him, but he gestured for me to move back until I was standing directly in front of the river.

"Jace, what are you doing?"

He grabbed the rope and started bringing it backwards. Then he was running. Running right at me.

I tried to move out of the way but it was useless. He was already grabbing onto my waist. "Jac--"

"Hold on Clary," he said.

I shuddered from the sound of my name on his lips and gasped from the sudden lack of gravity. My feet were off the ground, and I was in the air holding onto Jace as tightly as I could. He was doing the same.

And then, before I knew it I was back on the ground with Jace on top of me. He stood up briskly and held out his hand to help me up. I took it.

When I looked up everyone was gaping at us.

"What?" I asked.

"Why'd you guys go that way?" Simon asked. "There's a bridge over there."

When I looked over to where he gestured, there was a small but sturdy bridge sitting off in the distance.

"You mean--? JACE!" I shrieked. "You could've killed me."

He laughed. The sound filling the area.

"This is not funny," I complained.

"It's pretty funny," Jordan replied.

I glared at him and laughed. I definitely hadn't felt like this in awhile. The adrenaline rush. Everything.

Before we left to go to the obstacle course I had thought I saw Sebastian glare at Jace, resulting in Jace shrugging. I decided to ignore that and continued walking toward to the course.

 **AN** **: I'm so excited for the future chapters of this story because I have a lot of great stuff planned... but anyways enjoy this chapter loves.** **Also thanks for your continuous support. It means a lot. :)**


	14. chapter 12

Previously:

 _Before we left to go to the obstacle course I had thought I saw Sebastian glare at Jace, resulting in him shrugging. I decided to ignore that and continued walking toward to the course._

Now:

"Hey guys," Izzy yelled out. "We have a problem."

I quickened my pace and looked to see what the problem was. Everyone was looking up towards the trail and it didn't look to promising.

"How had we not noticed this earlier," Maia mumbled.

"What's wrong?" I asked wearily.

"Fog," Sebastian replied.

Both teams were silent. We were both too stubborn to move and go back to the cabin, otherwise we would lose. The only sound was the wind ruffling the trees.

"I guess it makes things more interesting," Jace replied.

Simon laughed nervously.

"At least we're here now," Izzy said.

"Time for the race," Magnus said happily.

I squinted my eyes trying to get a better view of the course. It was useless because the grey fog was starting to cover the entire forest.

"Now or never," I mumbled even though I didn't particularly care if I did it or not.

"Racers step forward and get ready," Magnus called out.

I took a couple steps out and turned my head to see Jace smirking at me.

"Hey red."

"Hey goldilocks," I replied.

"You guys ready?" Izzy called out. By now, the fog had completely covered the forest and it was hard to see farther than ten feet ahead of me.

"Yeah," we both replied.

"Don't worry red," Jace said, "I'll take it easy on you."

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Remember to wait thirty seconds Jace," Magnus yelled out.

Jace nodded.

"Clary! Ready set go!" they all yelled.

I took off running. I was running for awhile when suddenly a few feet in front of me a large log was blocking my path. I knew that going around it would take too long so I put my arms on it and quickly pushed myself forward and over the rock.

I turned around and saw Jace running towards the log. How had he even gotten here so quickly I thought. After about thirty seconds Jace ran ahead of me.

His head turned around and he said, "If you keep up at that pace red I'll finish a couple minutes before you."

I laughed and quickened my pace. "In your dreams."

He chuckled and quickened his pace as well. A couple of seconds later Jace had came to a stop when a river just as big as the first one stood in our way.

I stopped quickly and examined the river. There were two large logs spanning the river. Jace had already started balancing his way across the log. I started to as well.

"Don't fall," Jace said seriously.

I gaped at him even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah because I was planning on falling," I said sarcastically.

"Just making sure," he replied. I could imagine the smirk that lay on his face.

Looking ahead and slowly, very slowly making my way across the slippery log I saw the river's water hitting against the log and making it even more slippery. I grunted as I took a couple more seconds trying not to fall off.

By the time I was halfway across the log Jace only had a couple more seconds until he would be off the log. I quickened my pace a little and slipped.

I let out a yell and fell on my knees gripping onto the cold, wet log. Jace's head turned back toward me.

"Clary," he asked.

"I'm fine," I grunted. I made my way back up to a standing position slowly.

"It's easier if you don't take one step every three seconds," he mocked.

"Well you saw what just happened when I tried to go faster," I complained. If I kept talking maybe he wouldn't leave and I could catch up to him.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever red."

I sighed taking a couple more steps forward. I was only about ten feet away from Jace now. "I have a name you know."

"Of course," he replied smoothly. "Clary like the herb. Is it short for something?" he asked.

I stopped walking and took a deep breath. "It's short for Clarissa." My full name was something I despised using. Especially since I had been kidnapped by my father and brother. My full name was something only they ever used. Apparently, Clary wasn't lady enough.

He shrugged, oblivious to the memories resurfacing. "Seems too elegant red. Doesn't fit that attitude of yours."

My mouth dropped open. My attitude! His attitude was definitely something.

"You might want to close your mouth," he said winking, "You'll catch flies."

Quickly I shut my mouth and made my way to the end of the log. "Is Jace short for anything?"

He shrugged walking forwards, his eyes turning into a glossy gold. "Jonathan, but I don't really like it that much. I've been called Jace _almost_ my entire life."

Now I completely stopped. _Jonathan_. Honestly I didn't know who was worse: Valentine or Jonathan. They were both evil and awful in their own different ways. My father usually attacked me verbally. Calling me names and telling me things that eventually I started to believe after being with them for so long.

But my brother. I winced just thinking about the amount of pain he had caused me.

 _Slap. My face stung from his hit. Tears threatened to spill all over my face, but I knew the consequences and held them in._

 _"Are those tears Clarissa?"Jonathan asked spitting into my face. Slap. "You know the rules." Kick._

 _I screamed out in pain, which only seemed to make him hit me harder._

 _"Jonathan," my father scolded. "It wouldn't be much fun if she can't walk tomorrow, now would it?"_

 _"No father," he replied throwing me on the ground whilst spitting in my face again._

 _"See you tomorrow Clarissa,"Jonathan said slamming the door shut._

"Clary?" Jace asked. "Clary are you alright?"

I slowly looked upwards.

"Clary?" he questioned.

"What?" I replied, trying to keep my voice even.

"Are- are you alright?"

I jumped off the log. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You were just standing there," he said, all cockiness gone. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I hesitated. I could still tell him without lying to him. "Yeah, its just that that's my brother's name."

"Jonathan?"

I flinched. "Yeah."

"Hey," he said softly. "I get it. You don't have to talk about him anymore."

I didn't reply.

"Beat you to the end and back," he said winking.

I laughed quietly. "Isn't that the point of this race anyways?"

He ignored that and said, "I'm winning so far."

I rolled my eyes and started running alongside him. Along the way, there were a bunch of other obstacles that we had to face, but nothing like the river. Jace had made jokes and was being really competitive the entire time, actually making me laugh.

But, when we could see Izzy, Simon, Maia, Jordan, Magnus, Alec and Sebastian Jace had started to completely sprint towards the end.

I pushed myself forward trying to catch up, but it was useless. Jace was about four seconds ahead of me. I thought about what I could do. I smiled a little when an idea popped into my mind.

When Jace was a few seconds in front of the finish line that they had set up, I screamed out his name, trying to sound scared and hurt at the same time. It wasn't that hard considering I had sounded like that for half a year.

Jace stopped running and turned to look at me worriedly.

I was smiling as I ran past him across the finish line. He stood there his mouth agape. "You might want to close your mouth," I said winking, "you'll catch flies."

He laughed out loud. "Smart thinking red."

I smirked, feeling like my old self. "I know."

"Clary!" Izzy yelled smiling, "You beat Jace!"

"Good job Clary," Maia and Magnus yelled.

I laughed. "Thanks guys."

A hand touched my shoulder. I flinched.

"Nice thinking back there," Sebastian said smiling. "It was really smart of you."

I laughed nervously.

"Clary," Izzy called. "Come on we have to go pick what we want for the third round."

I quickly excused myself from the situation blushing. God why was I always so stupid around him.

When I reached Izzy she said, "You looked like you needed some help back there."

"Thanks Iz. Do you-"

"Biscuit!" Magnus yelled. "Fabulous job. Now we're winning 3-2 and we get to pick the final round."

I smiled.

"Let's go back to our meeting spot and think on it," Maia suggested. "After all we have an hour until two o'clock."

"Has it really already been that long," I asked. Was it really one in the morning I thought.

"Yeah," Maia laughed.

"By the way guys," Izzy said mischievously, "I have the perfect game for the final round. The less people the better, which gives them a disadvantage."

 **AN: Hi guys! I'm so sorry for not posting in awhile. I've been pretty busy and guess what? My birthday is in 8 days! Anyways please give me suggestions on how to make this story better. Please review :)) i hope you enjoyed this chapter**


	15. chapter 13

**AN: Hi guys! I really need your guy's help. This story has been really hard to write lately because I just want to get past the games. I feel like they're stopping things from happening and I feel like this story isn't really flowing and it feels forced. Don't worry I'm not giving up on it, but it's been so hard to write. Here's another short chapter, I'm sorry. I hope you understand. But I promise the next chapter has some things in it to help the story move forward.**

We had all been sitting on the rock listening to what Izzy planned to do for the next round when it had started pouring. It wasn't a soft rain, although it started out as soft.

Now, the rain fell in chaotic drops. The swirling wind carried them one way and then another. It hammered down on us as we tried to find Jace and his team through the fog and rain.

"We need to find them!" I heard Izzy yell. Her arms were over her face, trying to block the wind and pelting rain from hitting her face. It was a feable attempt.

"They'll get here," Maia yelled back, "they were heading this way anyways."

"They were supposed to be here by now," Izzy shouted, "and my walkie talkie isn't working anymore!"

"We need to find cover!" Magnus yelled.

I turned my back to the wind and rain, searching for anywhere we could go, but the fog from earlier almost made it impossible to see.

"We need to find them!" Izzy shouted back.

"Listen Izzy, they're alright," Magnus hollered. "Remember when we came up with this game that if anything happens then we have to meet up at the cave."

"What cave?" I asked. "How come I don't know about this?"

"Nevermind that," Izzy said, "but we need to go now!"

"Let's go!" Maia agreed.

I shivered pulling my jacket closer to me. It didn't help much. Slowly we trudged through the storm. The wind and rain pelted down on us, soaking us and making us walk a little faster.

By the time I thought that they had all lied about the cave we stumbled upon it. From what I could see through the fog th cave was small. Small enough to fit about ten people.

"Izzy?" a voice yelled. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," she shouted, "It's me!"

We all stumbled into the cave, shivering cold. The cave was dark. I could barely see, but it was better than being out in the rain. Looking up, I saw Alec, Jace, Simon, Sebastian, and Jordan all sitting in the corner of the cave, drenched.

There was a moment of silence before Simon said, "Well it could be worse."

I snorted.

"Not the time rat face," Jace muttered.

Maia walked towards Jordan. He stood up almost abruptly and wrapped his arms around her. "What are we gonna do now?" she mumbled into his chest.

"It's gonna be okay," he replied, "We'll be able to leave tomorrow."

"So we're just gonna stay here all night?" I asked.

"Well do you want to go back out there red?" Jace asked.

I turned around and stared at the pouring rain. Yeah there was no way in hell that I would want to go back out there. "What do you think," I mumbled.

"I'm going to take that as a yes?" he mocked.

"Oh shut up Jace," Izzy said. "How about we play truth or dare?"

I internally sighed. I could be in a warm house sleeping in curled up blankets.

"Perfect," Magnus agreed.

"I'll play," Sebastian said.

"The rest of you don't have a choice," Izzy instructed. "Sit down."

Sitting down, I forced myself to stay calm. It's not like I was kept in a room that reminded me of a cave for weeks. I forced the thought out of my head. Tonight was supposed to be fun, I reminded myself.

"I'll go first," Izzy volunteered. Her eyes wandered the circle we had formed sitting down. Her eyes stopped on Simon with a glint in her eyes. "Simon. Truth or dare?"

Simon's head whipped upwards. "Uhh uhh dare?"

Izzy smirked. "I dare you to try to make everyone in this group to crack a smile and if you don't after two minutes then you have to lick the floor."

Simon physically cringed. "Umm okay."

It had been about a minute and a half and everyone else except Jace and I had either bursted out laughing or cracked a smile, even Alec had smiled. Simon's awkwardness and stupid jokes were honestly really funny, but I wasn't about to laugh.

"How do fish get high?" he asked.

"How?" I replied dryly.

"Seaweed."

My lips tempted to crack into a smile. I forced then to stay down.

"Oh come on," he complained standing up. "Not even a little smile?"

"Twenty seconds," Maia said.

"What's Forrest Gumps password?"

"What?"

"1forrest1."

I couldn't help it. I bursted out laughing. So did everyone else, except Jace.

"Oh come on," he complained, "How could you not laugh?"

Jace shrugged. "Your jokes aren't funny Simone. Now lick the floor."

"I have a 100% chance to pick up germs if I do that, which means I'll most likely get sick if I do."

"Do I look like I care?" he asked.

"Fine," he mumbled, bending down to lick the floor.

I grimaced looking away. That was not something I wanted to see.

"Eww!" Maia yelled. "Ugh gross."

Izzy was on the ground laughing. I turned back around to see Simon looking a little pale and almost every one was snickering at him. Jace was smiling.

And so the rest of the night, or rather morning went on like that. About an hour an a half later, everyone was passed out cold except for Jace and I.

"You're still awake red?" he asked.

"Can't sleep," I muttered. And it was true. I didn't think I would be able to sleep in this cave. It brought back to many memories baried deep in my head that I didn't want to undercover.

"Me neither," he replied softly.

For a second, I wondered if he had anything haunting him that was keeping him from sleep, but then I thought about all of his smirks and and cast the thought from my mind.

Not eveyone has as bad a life as you did I thought bitterly.

After about an hour around 4 o'clock I finally fell asleep, unaware of what was haunting Jace's dreams. Oblivious to the fact that maybe… just maybe, Jace was hurting just as much as I was.


	16. chapter 14

By the time everyone had woken up and we had dragged ourself back to the cabin, we had decided to cancel the last round until next week when the weather cleared up. It was still raining when we left the small cave and Izzy and Jordan got sick. Their colorless faces brushed in sweat.

The minute I stepped into the house I felt strong arms rush into me. I stumbled back surprised.

"Clary! Where the hell were you guys?" she yelled.

I flinched away from the loud noise. "We stayed in a cave," I muttered. "The storm was too strong."

"Next time check the weather. You all could've been injured."

I slid out of her hug. I didn't particularly feel like touching people after no sleep and an aching back from the rocky cold ground. "I'll be in my room."

"Lunch will be ready soon!" she called.

I didn't bother replying. She knew I'd be skipping lunch. I was going straight to my bed and sleeping. Preferably for the rest of the day.

But I didn't get the chance when someone pulled my arm into a room. "Time for makeovers!" a familar voice squeeled.

"Oh hell no," I grumbled, pulling out of her grasp.

"You'll never leave that room if she pulls you in," a voice teased. I turned to see Sebastian leaning against the wall, a light smile on his face.

"Exactly," I muttered.

"Oh come on," Izzy said, "leave us alone Sebastian."

"What's going on?" Simon asked walking down the hall.

"Clary and I," she emphasized, "were just going to give each other makeovers."

Simon snorted. "Have fun with that."

"Can I just go sleep?" I asked.

"Hey!" Izzy called. "It will be lots of fun!"

I took my chances and turned around to run away to my room, but ran into a wall. A moving wall.

"Slow down there red," Jace's all too familar, polished voice mocked. "Don't want you causing an accident."

I scoffed and his lips rose up into a smile.

"Well," Izzy said, "Me and Simon are just gonna go watch a movie. Sebastian's coming with us. We'll be back."

"What?" Simon sputtered.

"Excuse me?" Sebastian asked.

Izzy grabbed both of them by their arms and ran off down the hallway, leaving me and Jace alone.

"I'm just gonna go," I muttered, turning around.

"Wait! Clary?"

"Yeah?" I asked without turning back around.

"Nothing," he replied after a pause.

Confused I turned around, but he wasn't there anymore. Shrugging I turned around, planning to sleep for the rest of the day, but apparently everyone else had other plans.

 _(time skip ~ after Clary's "short" nap)_

Clary?" someone yelled. "Clary!"

I bolted upright. "What's wrong?"

My mother laughed, the sound filling up my large room. "Nothings wrong sweetheart. We have a new guest."

I groaned. "A new guest?"

"Yeah," she said, "someone else is moving in with us. A seventeen year old and her father."

"Great," I mumbled. Why couldn't it be some cute kid?

"Try to be nice to her, Clary. You don't know her life story."

I snorted. "I'm sure it's awful."

"Please?"

"Whatever. When does she get here?"

"She's been here Clare. For the past six hours while you've been sleeping."

I groaned, hoping I would've slept through the rest of the day. (meee… lol sorry had to say that)

"All the kids are in the game room. Tell them dinners ready for me yeah?"

"Yeah sure mom," I replied, already heading towards the game room. It wasn't hard to find since I could hear sounds of laughter coming from the east side of the cabin. The closer I got to to the game room the louder the laughs sounded.

As I stepped into the room, with my bedhead in a messy bun, sweats, and sweatshirt, my eyes took in the surroundings. There were old game machines everywhere and pool tables along the side. The plush carpet felt nice beneath my feet. On the other side of the room everyone sat in chairs and some on the floor.

"Clary!" Izzy hollered. "Welcome to the party lazy bum."

I shrugged my ears burning.

"Clary," she said, her face a look of absolute disgust. Did I really look that bad? "Meet Kaelie Whitewillow."

And then I realized her look of disgust wasn't aimed at me. It was aimed at her. . . and Jace. The first thing I noticed was how she was practically sitting on Jace's lap. The second thing was that Jace seemed to be enjoying it. I tried to fight away my look of disgust.

"Nice to meet you," she cooed. "I'm looking forward to our friendship."

I snorted. Friendship? Yeah, you thought honey. "Me too."

"Wanna join red?" Jace asked, his smirk plastered on his face.

"Dinners ready by the way," I said, rushing out of the room Izzy hot on my tail.

"Clary!" she yelled. "Wait up!"

I didn't slow down. Her long legs would eventually catch up.

"I get it. I know you like Jace and all-"

I spun around. "What?"

"I said I know you like Ja-"

"I heard what you said I just couldn't believe you said that. I don't like Jace. He's just. . ." I paused thinking. I had never really thought about if I liked Jace or not. It seemed irrelevant.

"Well," she prompted.

"Jace is too arrogant for his own good, a complete douchebag, and he needs to learn new nicknames," I said truthfully. Sure Jace was good looking. Even if I was blind you'd be able to tell from his smooth, polished voice. But looks didn't matter to me.

"True," she admitted. "But if you look beneath all that-"

"You'll find out that he's the spawn of Satan," I joked. "Izzy I don't like him."

"Fine," she grumbled. "But there's gotta be someone."

I didn't reply.

"Simon?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Not my type."

She physically sighed in relief. "Sebastian?" She didn't even give me a chance to reply before she yelled, "I knew it."

My cheeks warmed up in response. "He's. . . "

"Totally into you," she said.

"Who's into who now?" Mayrse asked as we walked into the kitchen.

"No one," I yelled.

She grinned. "Well. . . go pick a seat at the table. I made my special in honor of Kaelie's arrival."

Thankfully Izzy let our earlier conversation drop and started talking about the upcoming school year filling me in on all the details I needed to know. School was in about a month and I was not excited at all. If school here was anything like my old school I was not looking forward to it.

"Kaelie," Mayrse said smiling, "I made a special dinner just for you."

Kaelie smiled back. "Thank you so much Mrs. Lightwood. It smells wonderful."

"Thank you dear," she replied, "but you can call me Mayrse."

"Of course," she replied back sweetly. I felt like I was going to gag at her fakeful cheerfulness. Izzy shot me a look, which I returned. This was going to be a great dinner. Note the sarcasm.

 **AN: Oh no! looks like we have a new guest. i wonder what kind of trouble she's gonna bring? (insert evil laugh)**

 **but in all seriousness sorry it took so long to update. i was so busy and only had time for one update last weekend. i honestly cant believe i wrote a chapter on a school day :) anyways happy tuesday!**


	17. chapter 15

"Yes," Kaelie said, a frown on her face, "and then I jumped into the pool and saved his life. I almost lost him, but in the end it was alright."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and storm out of the room. Throughout the entire dinner she had been the center of attention, but that's not what had been bothering me. I was completely irritated because of all the absolutely horrendous tradegies she's been through (in case you didn't notice that was sarcasm).

The adults sympathized with her, saying things like that must have been terrible or I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

"He kept trying to repay me for saving his life, but I gave everything back. He needed it more than I did," Kaelie continued.

"You're so sweet," Izzy said, a tight smile on her face. At least I wasn't the only one annoyed.

Usually I kept quiet about what I had been through, not wanting looks of pity. I had never looked for help, taking everything on my own. But at this particular moment I wanted to yell at her and ask her: Were you kidnapped by your father? Were you raped by your own brother? Were you tortured both mentally and physically everyday for two months?

I kept my mouth shut in a tight line, ready to excuse myself to go sleep for the next year preferably. My head was pounding and I wasn't particularly keen on experiencing another migraine. Those usually brought back bad memories. . . and panic attacks.

"Clary?" my mom scolded. "Kaelie asked whether you, Izzy, and Maia wanted to go to the mall tomorrow."

I lifted my head. "Uh. . . yeah of course."

"Perfect!" she said, smiling. "I can't wait. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go unpack. Jace do you want to help me?"

Jace's lips tilted upwards, forming a lazy grin. "Sure."

I decided to ignore Kaelie as she walked away purring, "I just have the suitcases left now."

"Alright well that was a great dinner wasn't it?" Mayrse asked, picking up the dirty dishes. "Why don't you kids go and I'll clean up."

"Thanks mom," Izzy said, rushing out of the room. Alec and I strolled out slowly. I could tell he didn't particularly like Kaelie either.

"She bothers you too?" I asked, ignoring my headache.

Alec paused, as if wondering whether he should say it out loud. "You have absolutely no idea."

"Yeah me too. The parents don't seem to mind," I added, absentmindedly.

"That's because they're too blind to see it," he said, voice void of any emotion.

"See what?"

"That she's a bitch," he deadpanned.

Not many could make me smile or laugh even, but I couldn't stop the grin from coming onto my face.

(time skip to the mall)

"One more stop and then we can go to Taki's," Kaelie said.

Izzy, Maia, and I smiled. Mayrse had told us to be nice. Apparently Alec was wrong. Mayrse had seen that she was a bitch.

"Jace is meeting us there."

I sighed.

"Just Jace," Izzy asked.

"Oh no," Kaelie replied, waving her hand dismissively, "the others are coming too. Alex, Sebastian, Matt, and Jordan."

"It's Alec and Magnus," Izzy seethed.

"Oh yes of course. That's what I said."

"How about we just leave now?" Maia suggested, stopping to rest her arms from the countless of bags she was carrying. I gladly stopped too. Somehow we had both ended up with the bags. Kaelie was only carrying one, her purse in the other hand.

"Great idea," Izzy said, gladly setting her bags down too, "that way we can order and the food will be ready by the time they get there."

Kaelie sighed. "Fine, let's just go."

This time I rolled my eyes.

By the time we had gotten to the restaurant and everyone's food had arrived Jace, Alec, Magnus, and Sebastian stepped into the restaurant, laughing.

"Jace!" Kaelie squealed.

"Ladies," he said, sliding into her side of the booth.

Sebastian sat down next to me, hus perfect teeth formed into a smile. "Thanks for ordering our food for us."

"Oh," Kaelie said, "it was my idea!"

Izzy, Maia, and I's jaws dropped. Her idea?

"Thank you for coming, will you guys need anything else?" Aline, our waiter asked.

"Thank you we're fine," Maia said.

"Just call me over for the bill," Aline said, walking away to bring another customer their food.

"How was shopping?" Sebastian asked.

I shot a glance at Izzy and Maia and then turned to Alec, a smirk on my face. "You have absolutely no idea," I said.

 **AN: Hey guys! Sorry for not updating yesterday. I just kinda realized that I have 4 stories that I'm working on right now along with school finals coming up and sports, so updates might be slow. But don't worry summers coming up so I'll be able to update a lot.**

 **And that means my writing is getting better right? The more I write the better it becomes. or at least its supposed to lol. anyways enjoy this week loves :)**


	18. chapter 16

It turned out that Alec was the most hilarious person I had ever met in my entire life. He didn't speak much, but when he did it was absolutely hilarious. My stomach still hurt from laughing so much.

"Thank you for coming. I hope you'll come back soon!" Aline, our waitress, said.

We thanked her and walked outside. It was dark out now, the sun's absence cooling the night. I shivered from the cold wind that nipped at my face.

"Why did we have to park so far away?" Kaelie whined, flipping her hair to the side. "I've done so much walking today."

I rolled my eyes, giving it my everything not to yell at her, which was saying a lot because I wasn't typically a loud person. I liked to keep to myself. Especially since most people made me flinch and that wasn't something I liked lying my way out of.

"Maybe because there wasn't enough parking spots," Alec mumbled.

The corners of my mouth lifted into a sly smirk.

"What's so funny?" Sebastian asked, slowing his walk down so he was next to me.

"Oohhhh nothing," I replied shooting Alec a look. He was actually smiling. A real smile. A SMILE! Was he sick?

"Guys!" Izzy whispered. "Who's that in front of our car?"

My eyes darted upwards immediately. A tall dark figure stood in front of our car, resting his back on it. Cigarette smoke floated in the air, rising into the dark of the night.

"What should we do?" a voice asked, fear evident in their voice.

But everything was already becoming fainter. I felt the panic raise up slowly. The lump in my throat grew. I tried to breathe but my lungs weren't seeming to work. My breaths came out in short gasps for air.

"Clary?" someone asked. I could barely hear their muffled voices. They kept asking and asking but all I wanted was for the thoughts to stop coming.

My feet swayed on the floor and suddenly I was on the ground crying. I felt so sick and dirty. I needed to take a shower and wash all of _his_ grime off of me. I could feel where he touched -- no bruised me.

"Call her mom!" someone shouted. It sounded distant. And far away. I could call for help, but I know no one would come. No one ever came.

 _"Help!" I cried out desperately, tears streaming down my face. I couldn't breathe. I wanted to curl up in a ball in my room and watch movies with my mom and Luke. I wanted to go back. I wanted to someone to save me._

 _But no one would._

 _No one was there._

 _Except for him . . . and I was helpless._

"Give her space!"

I could barely hear them. The only thing that processed in my mind was _him_. I recalled how my body jarred with each blow. How the pain had seared through me. How I had cried so much -- the tears stopped flowing.

"Jace get her in the car!"

I felt arms pick me up and I screamed and screamed and screamed. The memories flooded in one by one. I couldn't escape them. I couldn't hide from them. I wouldn't be saved.

 _(very short time skip)_

Sometimes all it took was a click.

It could be the smallest thing, like the color of someone's eyes. Or it could be nothing, except for my thoughts that constantly seemed to drown me. That was the first big panic attack they had seen.

The first thought that flew into my mind when I regained my self consciousness was how warm I felt. My breaths came out ragged and my head throbbed, but the warmth engulfed me. I felt. . . safe.

"Shh. . . I know. I know," Jace's softened voice said. His hands were running circles on my arms. "It's gonna be okay."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, after my breathing returned to normal. I felt so weak.

"It's okay Clary," he murmured.

"How bad was it?" I asked after a while, afraid to look into his eyes.

"Don't worry about that Clary. Just relax."

I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore the constant pound in my head. After a while I drifted into sleep, surrounded by warmth.

 **AN: a very short one, but filled with a lot of stuff. I know that probably sucked... I hope you liked it to some degree.**

 **It also definitely took a darker turn. Also I'm kind of excited for future chapters.**

 ** _Who wants to learn more about Jace?_**

 **No one... oh okay then... I'll just walk myself out then.**


	19. chapter 17

When I woke up, light flooded my vision. I was in my bed, surrounded by my covers. How did I get here?

And then the night's occurrences rushed back. Two words exactly. Panic. Attack.

I put my hands on my face and groaned. There was no more hiding it I guess. No more privacy.

"Clary honey?" my mom asked, from outside my door. "Can I come in sweetheart?"

"Yeah."

I watched as my door opened slowly, my mom peering around the corner.

"Hi mom," I replied weakly.

She sat down on the edge of my bed. It sunk down a little from the weight of her. I sat up, facing her.

She was silent for a moment, before she said, "I thought you were better."

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "I was."

"Jace was nice last night," she said. "He wouldn't leave your side the entire night."

What? My eyes widened, darting down to look at my lap. "He what?"

"Yeah," she replied, a smile playing at the edge of her mouth. "Nice boy huh?"

"Uhh yeah. . . Nice. . ."

"Clary?" she asked.

I looked up.

"I want you to let me speak before you say anything."

"Why? What's wrong?" I immediately asked, assuming something was wrong.

"Just hear me out."

"Mom. . ."

"I want you to start seeing a therapist."

My jaw dropped.

"Only until school starts," she quickly added.

"You're serious?" I asked. "You're not being serious are you?"

I looked around my room, expecting Luke to jump out from the closet and yell, "Just Kidding!"

"You were doing so well," she said. "But last night. . . You scared me Clary. When they called. I thought you. . . you were gone."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I was not going to freak out. I was not going to freak out.

"It'll only be once a week," she said. "I'll let you skip this week too."

I was not going to freak out.

"I just. . . I want the best for you Clary."

"Okay."

This time my mom's eyes widened in surprise. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"There's some breakfast on the kitchen counter if you want it," she said. "I hate to leave you, but I got a call from the art gallery in town. They want to display some of my work."

"That's great mom."

"I don't have to go if you want. I can stay here."

"Absolutely not," I said, standing up. "You are going to go. They're going to love your work, and then you're going to become famous."

"Clary," she said, laughing.

"I can see it now. Jocelyn Fray. The world's most famous artist!"

She sat up from my bed, a huge smile planted on her face.

"Go," I urged, pushing her out of my room. "Go get famous."

"Are you sure?" she asked, pausing in my doorway.

"Mom," I complained. "Go."

"Alright alright. I'll be back in time for dinner. Luke was going to take me out to lunch to celebrate."

"See," I said. "Just go mom. I'm fine. I promise."

"Okay," she said. "I love you. Make sure you eat something. I'll be back soon."

"Bye," I said, shutting my door. I slumped down on the floor, leaning my back against the door.

A therapist? Really?

I closed my eyes, groaning in frustration. I had thought I was better. I was better.

But I guess some wounds just don't ever heal.

My hand was paused on my doorknob. It was cool to the touch.

"You can do this Clary," I said to myself. "Just go out there. You can't avoid them forever."

Well actually I could -

No. "Just go Clary."

I twisted the doorknob and opened the door stumbling into a wall. More specifically Jace.

"Oh I'm sorry," Jace said, his hands holding me steady.

"It's fine," I mumbled, a blush creeping onto my face.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice low.

I wasn't sure what he was asking about. Last night? Right now?

"Jace are you coming?" a voice whined.

I turned my head to face Kaelie, standing impatiently in front of her door. Oh. . . that's right. How could I forget?

"I'm fine," I mumbled, walking out of his hold.

"Clary I-"

"Jace!" she called. "Let's go!"

I didn't stick around to see what happened. As I was rushing around the corner I ran into another wall, falling backwards.

"Clary?"

"Uhh. . ."

"Are you alright?" Sebastian asked, holding his hand out to help me up.

I looked upwards, my eyes landing on Sebastian.

"Oh my God," I mumbled, taking his hand. "This is so embarrassing."

He laughed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine really. I should watch where I'm going." Only the second time today I thought.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, concern lacing his tone.

"Oh yeah," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "I'm fine. It happens more than you think."

He chuckled. "I'll see you later tonight yah?"

"What's tonight?"

"No body told you?" he asked.

"Uhhh. . . no."

"Oh. Well, we'll all be in the game room tonight. It's boys vs girls."

"Oh," I mumbled. "Sounds fun."

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said, shifting to the side.

"You should," he encouraged. "It'll be fun. We're playing pool tonight."

"I don't know how to play pool," I said, telling the truth. Lame. . . I know. Who doesn't know how to play pool?

"I can show you," he suggested. "Come in a little early."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh okay. I'll be there then."

He winked at me. "See you."

I watched him walk away, biting nervously on my nails. What happened to avoiding everyone?

 **AN: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long! I wasn't expecting to be so busy this summer. I've literally had basketball everyday so far except for Sundays. Anyways I hope you enjoyed. I feel like the story is really starting to connect now.**


	20. chapter 18

I was currently outside the door to the arcade room, trying to calm my nerves. I was a nervous wreck.

"Screw it," I muttered, quickly opening the door before I could convince myself otherwise. I was just going to learn how to play pool and then hopefully stay by Izzy all night and avoid everyone's stares.

Yep. Sounded like a pretty solid plan. Avoid everyone and lie to yourself like you always do, that you're having fun.

"Hey Clary," Sebastian greeted, picking up a long stick thingy and then grabbing a small eraser like thing. He started rubbing it against the end of the stick.

"Hey," I said, putting on a fake smile.

"Ready to learn how to play pool?"

I nodded, walking over to Sebastian. He handed me the stick thingy and started setting up the pool table.

"So first hold it like this," he instructed, walking behind me and wrapping his arms around me holding the stick thingy.

I tensed up and sucked in a breath.Get off me. Get off me.

"Hey. Relax. It's just me."

Like that makes me feel any better. He tried fake kidnapping me. He was lucky I was pissed off and didn't have a panic attack.

I let out the breath I was holding. "Now what?" My voice came out shaky, but only because I was really. . . Scared? Nervous? Excited?

I didn't really know.

He positioned my arms how it should be and then shot the pool thing for me. I thought he was going to teach me. Not do it for me.

"You do this," he whispered.

I quickly wiggled out of his arms. "I'm just going to go get the stick thingy," I said lamely. His face fell a little. "Do you wanna play?"

"Are you ready to yet?"

"I'll learn."

Jace and Kaelie suddenly bursted into the room. Well this wasn't awkward. . .

"Oh," Kaelie exclaimed. "Jace was just going to teach me how to play pool before the games start."

"It's alright," Sebastian said. "I was just teaching Clary how to play."

I shifted from foot to foot. Why did I feel like I just did something bad?

"We'll just go over here," Jace said, his voice laced with. . . disappointment? But it clearly wasn't because soon enough he put his arm around her waist, pulling her against him.

I turned back around to face Sebastian. What was this feeling in my stomach? I was so angry and irritated. Was I jealous? No. I couldn't be jealous. I've barely been here for more than a week. I couldn't be jealous. I wasn't.

When are you going to stop lying to yourself? If you keep acting like this you're going to get hurt.

I shut my mind off. Not today. I tuned out Kaelie's high pitched laugh and focused instead on Sebastian.

"Do you want to go first?"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't know what to do."

He laughed."It's a good thing I'm showing you how to play, or else it'd be a blow out tonight."

I felt the corners of my lips tug upwards. "Let me guess. The losers have to do something?"

"Why else would we play?"

"To have fun," I suggested. Kaelie squealed again.Don'tlook over. Don't look.

He chuckled. "I don't think they're capable of playing anything without making it a competition. It took me awhile to learn that when I first moved in."

"When did you move in?"

"Two years ago," he answered.

I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped open. "Two years?"

"Yeah. I've been here awhile."

There was a knock on the window. A loud knock. I felt my muscles freeze up.

"What was that?" Kaelie asked.

"Probably just everyone trying to scare us," Sebastian said.

There was another knock. Louder this time.

Jace headed over to the window, leaving Kaelie behind. He put his hand on the window to wipe away the fog. I held my breath.

"What are you guys doing?" Izzy asked walking into the room.

I gasped at the sudden noise.

There was a bang on a different window. My breathing was starting to become irregular.

"What is that?" Magnus asked.

"It's not you guys?" Sebastian asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Us?" Maia questioned.

Bang!

I jumped.

"It's probably just a tree branch," Izzy concluded.

"On two windows?" Jace questioned.

I turned to face Jace and met his eyes just as everything went black.

 ** _Unknown POV:_**

"I found them," he said, his tone filled with excitement.

"Where?" a gruff voice responded. "Show me."

"Montana," came his reply, as he showed the buff man his phone and the address.

"Looks like we're headed to Montana boy. Round up the gang. We leave tonight at midnight."

"Of course." The white headed boy hurried out of the room. A devilish smirk present on his face. "Get ready little sis. We're coming."

 **AN: Wow! A new pov! Anyways. . . What do you think happened? Did Clary pass out? Did somebody get to her?**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a fantastic day loves. Also. . . more self promo for wattpad. Check out my story _Deadly Secrets._ I've had the first couple chapters written for awhile and I was going to save them for updates, but alas I couldn't resist.**

 **Welp. Good bye see you sometime soon :)**


	21. chapter 19

"What was that?" Maia screamed, as I tried to keep my breathing in check. In and out. In and out.

"I think the power went out," Jace's soothing voice called out from the darkness.

"Someone get their phone's flashlight."

A second later, someone's phone flashlight turned on, lighting up only a small amount of the room.

"Anyone want to go get some candles?" Jordan asked.

I breathed in and out, releasing the tension in my body. Everything was fine. It was just the power.

The lights flickered on and off, casting brightness in the room for a split second. I reminded myself that nothing was going to happen. I was safe.

About five minutes later we had a hand full of lit candles, emitting a yellow glow around the area. We were seated in a circle, talking lowly waiting for the power to turn back on.

Everyone had started acting jittery around me, as if I would shatter on impact if they said or did something wrong. Most of the time I didn't blame them. I felt like I was about to shatter into millions of tiby pieces that could never be pieced back together.

A part of myself had already shattered anyways. Would the world even miss me?

I diminished the foolish thought. I was loved and cared for by my mom and step father. And perhaps even some of these idiots, who were joking around the lit candles. With time I was sure I could become friends with them. Come to trust them.

But all in time. They say time heals all wounds afterall. Life was worth fighting for. Even if it sucked sometimes. And man did it suck.

"When do you think it will come back on?" Jordan asked, complaining for the fifth time. I had a feeling he didn't like the dark. That made two of us.

"Soon Jordan," Maia said, placing her hand in his. "Stop complaining already."

"We could play never have I ever," Izzy suggested.

Immediately everyone agreed, Izzy volunteering to go first.

"Never have I ever died my hair a crazy color."

Magnus rolled his eyes, muttering about how targeting him wasn't fair. He grudgingly put up one finger.

It was Alec's turn. "Never have I ever." He paused to think. "Shoplifted."

Jace and Simon both put up one finger. I couldn't help but widen my eyes in shock. Jace I could understand, but Simon?

Simon pushed his glasses forward, his face heating up from embarrassment. Izzy and Maia giggled at his frantics.

"You've shoplifted!" Izzy said, face filled with shock.

Simon nodded sheepishly. "It was an accident."

The group bursted up laughing.

"How do you accidently shoplift?" Jordan asked.

Simon shrugged. "Somehow an extra large Game of Thrones t-shirt landed in my backpack, with the hanger and everything."

The group laughed again.

"Ratface's turn," Jace said.

Simon muttered something to low for me to hear before he said, "Never have I ever had sex before."

Everyone except me, Simon, and Alec put a finger up. Although Jordan and Maia put there's up quietly, sharing a not so secret glance. Izzy announced that she had hers with a stupid boy named Meliorn and that ended that conversation. If you could even call Izzy's rant a conversation.

"Clary's turn," Izzy announced, a smile on her face.

I gave her a small smile in return, forcing the corner of my lips to turn upwards. "Never have I ever kissed a girl," I said.

Jace, Sebastian, Jordan, Alec, Magnus, and a very proud Simon put up their fingers. That was another point for them.

"Nice one Clary," Maia said, a grin on her face.

"I'm surprised," Jace said, "who knew ratface has kissed a girl."

"Ha ha Jace. Real funny," Simon deadpanned.

Izzy giggled.

"My turn," Kaelie squealed, clasping her hands together. "Hmm. . ."

I rubbed at my temples, my head starting to hurt.

"Never have I ever," she purred, a devlish grin on her face. "Been kidnapped."

It was like the world froze.Everyone went silent, no one daring to speak a word. I clenched my fist together in anger, an emotion I hadn't felt in awhile.

And then I slapped her in the face.

I couldn't even stop the satisfied smile that crept up onto my face. And it seemed. . . that neither could anyone else, besides Kaelie of course.

 **AN: I am so sorry about the lack of updates. I've literally had the worst case of writer's block for this story and it was just so hard to write. And of course volleyball is starting up. . . _not so enthusiastic_ yayyyyyyyy. Anyways I hope you liked this one. Sorry about how short it is.** **Have an amazing day!**


	22. chapter 20

The atmosphere in the room went taut. Kaelie took one look at me and then lunged forward, her nails flying into my hair.

Just what I needed. A cat fight.

With a pull on my hair I went flying downwards again and again.

 _And again._

 _My father's hands brought my face to the ground. Blood covered the floor like a pool._ _I couldn't help the scream that reached my lips._

 _No_. No. Not again.

Not ever.

I threw my hands into her face. Immediately she flew off of me. Strong hands gripped my waist, pulling me away.

"You okay?"

I nodded, ignoring the headache and the blood dripping down my face. It was just Jace.

"Let me clean it up," he whispered. "I think everyone's had enough fun for today."

In the background, I heard Izzy screaming at Kaelie. Everything was a blur. I faintly made out Alec holding Izzy back as Sebastian dragged Kaelie out of the room.

"Can you stand?"

I pushed myself off the ground, Jace's hand helping me up. Slowly, but surely I made my way to the kitchen, Jace by my side.

"That was a pretty nice slap you know," he said, turning to face me as I leaned against the counter.

"Thanks," I mumbled. "It felt necessary at the time."

"A good bandage can fix those scratches," he whispered, taking a few steps forward so that his body was pressed into mine.

I froze.

Then his hands reached above my head to grab it from the cabinets. My body released the tension. Jace slowly pulled away, disinfectant spray in hand.

"It'll sting. A bit," he warned, placing his hand on the side of my head and then bringing the other to spray the side of my face. "Close your eyes."

I obeyed, my eyes shutting as I felt a slight tingle of pain. "How bad is it?" I asked.

"Nothing will scar."

I laughed. Scarring wasn't what I was worried about.

And then suddenly Jace turned serious. "If you don't want to talk about it, I'll drop. We can never talk about it again, but I just - "

"Go ahead."

"What?"

"Go ahead." What did I have to lose? I had to get over it at one point. It's not like he didn't already know.

"Do you wanna maybe hang out?"

"What?"

"Do you wanna hang out? Like together."

I blinked - once, twice before the realization set in. He wasn't asking me about the kidnapping.

"It's fine if you don't want to. I understand."

"No no. I just - " Did I really want this? Need this right now? He was just all over Kaelie. _No_. He just wants to hang out. Friends. We were friends. "Sure."

He smiled. "Tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Tomorrow."

Jace's hand came back to my face. "See you tomorrow shorty. Take care of that pretty face of yours."

And then he left.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out. . .

I was freaking out.

This was no big deal. No big deal. Right?

The clock in the room chimed midnight. The bell rang twelve times, the sounds echoing throughout the room.

Chills ran up my spine.

"Clary?"

I jumped. And then I screamed.

Simon's eyes popped wide open. "Oh my God I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just checking to make sure you were okay and I - ugh. I'm so sorry."

I smiled. "Your all good. Just maybe a warning next time?"

"Of course. Next time."

I cringed at the awkward silence. Thankfully Izzy walked in.

"Kaelie needs to go." Izzy looked crazed. "I swear to God if she doesn't leave I'm going to go crazy." She turned to face me. "Are you okay? She got you pretty good."

"Not as good as you got her though," Simon interjected. "That slap was - "

"Amazing?" Magnus said, strutting into the room. "Nice job biscuit."

"Thanks?"

"I didn't know you had it in you."

"Yeah. . . well me neither."

Izzy laughed. "Me too."

"Me thrice." The room went silent. "What?" Simon asked. "Was it what I said?"

Izzy started giggling and Magnus's lips formed a smile. I couldn't help but follow suit.

"What is it?!"

"Nothing," Izzy giggled.

"What?"

A crash sounded throughout the house. We all froze, the lights still shut off. Footsteps sounded throughout the house. Multiple.

Seconds later Jace, followed by Sebastian, Alec, Maia and Jordan, came running into the room.

"What was that?" he asked.

"That wasn't you?"

We all looked around. Nothing. Nobody was here. "When did the parents say they were getting back?"

"Dinner."

"Dinner was four hours ago. . ."

Another crash sounded. Closer this time.

We all stared at each other, fear etched onto our faces.

"And how far away are we from town?" Maia asked.

"An hour," Jace replied.

"So that means we have an hour until the police get here," Simon said. "I'll call the police."

He pulled out his phone. Seconds later he spoke. "It won't turn on."

Everyone else pulled theirs out. Nobody's would turn on.

"Is it the power outage?" Izzy asked.

Simon shook his head. "We were hacked."

"What does that mean?"

He looked up. "It means we're not alone."

 **AN: Duh duh duh! Wow. . . it's been awhile since I last updated and. . . I'm sorry? School has been SO crazy and volleyball is finally over, which means basketball is starting, and I'm on the varsity team, which means no free time. So I thought I'd squeeze in some writing for today.**

 **Happy NaNoWriMo to all of you who are participating this year! I hope you win!**

 **Anyways. . . I hope you liked this chapter. It definitely wasn't my best writing, and it was VERY rushed. I hope you enjoy it none the less.** **Have an amazing weekend! I love you all** **so much!**


	23. chapter 21

_**Previously:**_

 _Simon shook his head. "We were hacked."_

 _"What does that mean?"_

 _He looked up. "It means we're not alone."_

 **Now:**

The room went silent.

"You're joking right?" Jordan asked.

Simon faltered. "I wish I was, but. . ."

"Can you fix it?" Izzy asked. "Should we leave the house?"

The room was spinning. There was no doubt in my mind that it was my father. I always knew he would find me. Eventually.

"What if the parents show up?"

"What if whoever's with us shows up first?" Simon cried, pushing up his glasses.

The room went silent again.

"I know who it is." It was my voice, protruding the silence. It surprised me. Instead of the normal scared tone, I sounded confident. Strong even.

"You what?"

"My father," I said. Immediately everyone's face blanched of color. "And probably my brother too."

"Clary-"

I cut Izzy off. This was all my fault. All of it. "I'll distract them. They came for me. Not you guys."

"Absolutely not," Jace said, his golden eyes meeting my emerald ones. "You're a part of this. . . this _family_. And I'm sure everyone here can agree with me."

"The second you walked in the door," Izzy said, a sad smile on her face.

I blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You thought we were going to let you walk away Biscuit?" Magnus asked.

"Well. . ."

Alec offered me a smile.

"So. . ." Simon announced, "Who do I need to punch?"

I smiled, my nerves slowly dissipating. My breathing was returning to normal. "I can't let you guys do this for me," I said. "My father he-"

"Can't get rid of all of us," Maia said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"He has men," I said.

"And we have the champions of the games!" Izzy exclaimed. "Think about it. We know this house inside and out."

"We have an advantage," Maia continued. "We all know every room in this house. They don't."

"And the forest," Jace pointed out.

We paused.

"That might work," Izzy said. "Simon do you still have that substance that tracks footsteps?"

Simon's face lit up. "In my room."

"Great! Let's split up!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea Iz?" Jace asked.

"Yeah," Jordan said, "isn't that the part in scary movies where everyone dies."

"Does any one have a better idea?" Izzy asked. "I mean we do have an advantage. It's better than nothing."

No one replied.

"So. . . we need to move fast and get the hell out of this building."

I could definitely see her point there. From the games, I was pretty sure we all knew the forest pretty well.

"As I was saying before. We'll split up. Simon, Magnus, and me will get the substance." Izzy lowered her voice. "Clary you go with Jace and Sebastian outside to the cave."

"The cave?" I questioned.

"The one we all stayed in that night it rained," she explained.

I nodded. Seemed like the best place to go in my opinion. I also realized that Jace and Sebastian were two of the biggest and more muscley out of the guys.

I wasn't complaining.

"Jordan, Maia, and Alec will make it seem like we headed in the opposite direction."

"Iz are you sure?" Jace questioned again. He was evidently worried. Although I could see why. He was leaving his immediate family to go with me.

Izzy didn't miss a beat. "Yes. Now everyone grab something to protect yourselves with. If everyone's not back at the cave in - " She checked her watch. "An hour. Well. . ."

The immediate danger that we were all in seemed to sink in. We were an hour and a half away from civilization surrounded by a forest, and the Circle, one of the biggest gangs ever, was trying to find us. If that didn't scream danger, I didn't know what did.

I tried to rack my brain for anything. Anything that would be useful to use against my father and brother. And then something, or rather someone hit me (metaphorically of course).

"What about Kaelie?"

"Oh my god," Izzy mumbled. "She could be -"

A scream echoed throughout the house, cutting Izzy off mid sentence. It was a feminine scream, and sounded an awful lot like Kaelie.

"Shit," Sebastian muttered.

Izzy ran towards the kitchen drawers, pulling out knives for everyone. "Use it if you have to. I'm not about to lose another one of my family members. Not after Max."

She paused taking a deep breath. "Even if it is someone like Kaelie."

I think all of us were in awe as Izzy stood there.

"Well?" she asked. "Are you all just going to stand there or should I hand out the knives myself?"

Immediately everyone rushed forward, grabbing a kitchen knife in hopes of being able to protect ourselves from trained mafia murderers. Sounded pretty pathetic when you put it like that.

They probably had guns.

Kaelie screamed again, louder this time. And if I heard correctly, it sounded like a cry for help. I closed my eyes taking a deep breath.

Izzy was right. No matter how much I hated Kaelie. Despised her even. I had to stop my father from doing what he did to me to any other girl.

No matter how bitchy she was.

"Hand me a knife."

Jace took one look at my eyes, and handed me the sharpest one. I gladly took it. Especially if it meant I had something to defend myself, whether I'd be able to use it or not.

"Now or never I guess," Sebastian said.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. . ." Simon muttered. He was holding his knife with two hands and sticking it straight out.

Kaelie's screams didn't stop there. They continued and we followed. We followed all the way until we reached the game room.

My legs were shaking and my hands were clammy with sweat. Although Jace's supportive figure in front of mine was comforting enough that I was able to put a foot in front of the other.

Although the sight of the door that they were behind wasn't what stopped us in our tracks. It was the stream of blood slithering underneath the doorway.

 **AN: Hello! Surprise! I bet you didn't expect this update! Especially on a Monday! I wrote this during all my classes today on a piece of paper for you guys. Hopefully I don't start failing school because I just really want to keep updating for you guys, and my only "free" time is during class.**

 **Anyways I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry for the cliff hanger, not really though. Have an amazing Monday and I love you all!**

 **P. S. Check out my new story**

 ** _Rivals_**

 **I have a feeling some of you will love it!**


	24. chapter 22

Previously:

 _Although the sight of the door that they were behind wasn't what stopped us in our tracks. It was the stream of blood slithering underneath the doorway._

Now:

"Maybe we shouldn't go in," Simon suggested. "Just a thought…"

 _Breathe Clary. Everything will be okay. It's all okay._

"Kaelie could be-"

"She's not," I whispered. "She's being used as bait."

"What should we do?"

"I don't know," I replied softly. "I could-"

"No. We stick together. No matter what," Jace said, golden eyes shifting to mine. "No more splitting up."

"I agree," Sebastian said. "We have a better chance if we stick together. The police will be here soon. We just need to wait it out."

I didn't want to get their hopes up. I really didn't. But deep down, I knew. . . I knew that even the police wouldn't get here in time. My father would find a way. No matter what. He always did.

"Clary darling."

The world seemed to stop.

Fear crept through my brain like spiders crawling on a web, flowing to my heart, and traveling throughout my limbs. My fingers shook. My legs quivered.

"It's been so long."

His voice was exactly how I remembered it.

"Too long." His voice carried itself through the door, the sound of it muffled and unclear, yet I still hearf every word perfectly.

I couldn't feel Jace's hands on my arms. I couldn't feel anything.

The numbness was overbearing.

"Clary," Jace said. "Clary it's okay. Everything's okay."

It wasn't. It wasn't okay.

"No." My voice was quiet. "No." It came out in a cry. "No. . ."

Kaelie's scream could be heard throughout the entire house.

"Just breathe."

I tried to take a deep breath, but it got caught. I couldn't breathe. Why couldn't I breathe?

"Deep breath in," Jace instructed, his voice low and steady.

I followed his instructions and slowly my breathing returned to normal. I was okay. Everyone was okay.

"We need to do something," Izzy said. "There has to be something we can do for Kaelie."

"Iz I don't - "

Izzy was already barging towards the door, the crimson blood on the floor staining her white converse.

"Izzy!" Alec yelled. He went straight after her, reaching for her wrist to pull her back, but Izzy already reached the door. "No!"

The door barged open, along with the group of teenagers. We raced after Izzy as Alec pulled her back.

"What a wonderful surprise," Valentine whispered to himself as the door flew open.

Immediately a herd of men surrounded everyone, three on each person. The men grabbed at my. . . my friends, and they viciously fought back. In a span of five minutes, everyone was tied to the wall in ropes, mouths free from a gag surprisingly.

My eyes frantically searched my friends, few looked injured. Alec and Jace were both bleeding from their mouths, Jace's eye looked like it was about to form into a black eye. Everyone was tied up.

Everyone, that was, except for me.

"My beautiful daughter," he said, steps echoing on the tiles. "You look so much like your mother."

I stayed silent. Although silence seemed far better than noise. For me, silence meant pain, but noise meant even more pain.

"You've grown up so much." He was a few feet away now. I couldn't move. ''So beautiful. So. . . fragile."

"Get away from her," Jace spat, writhing in his ropes. "Get the _fuck_ away!"

I breathed in as Valentine turned toward Jace with a smile. "I'm not quite sure we've met before."

Jace grit his teeth together.

"Friend? How about boyfriend?" He paused. "Ahh I see now." Valentine was directly in front of Jace now, his face formed into an evil grin. He bent down so that he was by Jace's ear. He whispered something to him, something I assumed was gruesome enough that Jace's face paled.

"Never," he said, his eyes drifting to me.

"Very well." My father's fist flew into his stomach. Jace didn't make a sound, although Izzy's cries could be heard.

"Stop," I cried out. "Stop!"

My father ignored me and focused on Izzy instead. "Hello darling. . ." he murmured. "Would you like me to let you all go?"

Izzy's tears kept falling down from her face uncontrollably. Alec grunted out in attempt of getting out of the ropes.

"I just need something small in return. . . nothing big." He lent in, fingers wiping her tears.

"Get away from her," Alec shouted. "Leave her alone."

My father turned and smiled, focusing on his next victim. "Brotherly love, how sweet. Which reminds me. . . Jonathan, your sister is waiting for you."

I didn't need to turn around to know he was behind me. I could feel his presence. My legs seized and my heart lurched.

"Sister darling," a voice rang out. He slipped past me, and I could imagine he was smirking.

My eyes took in his form. He was taller and more buff than the last time I saw him. More frightening.

"Clary," he breathed out, a dark grin plastered on his face. His choal eyes were as black as I remembered. "Oh Clary."

My breathing hitched as he drew closer. One step closer. And then another. And then he was a couple inches away.

I couldn't move.

Slowly his hand reached out to carress my face. He dragged his hand down, a small grin creeping onto his face.

 _Breathe Clary. The police are on their way. They'll be here soon._

That didn't seem likely, but I couldn't dwell on that right now. I could, however, faintly hear the sound of Jace's protests, but my main focus was my brother.

He seemed different almost. And not the good kind of different. The bad kind of different.

It was almost has if he had lost his last thread of innocence. Completely shriveled away. The only thing left in its place? Pure cruelty.

"I've missed you."

My hands were clenched at my side, and I flinched at the sight of his hand reaching towards my face again.

 _Not again. Please God not again._

But nothing, I realized, was happening to stop his outreached hand. The police were miles away. My friends tied to ropes.

 _No_.

His hand flittered by my cheek.

 _No. God please no._

He wasn't going to stop I realized. He wasn't going to stop. And no one else could make him stop. No one else. . . no one else except me.

"Get away from me you - you sick bastard." My voice was quiet and croaky, but it was a start. A start was always good.

Jonathan chuckled. "Not so scared any more are we? Let me change that."

His hand was on my face, his other now groping my behind. I flinched away, jumping out of his reach.

"Leave. Me. Alone."

Jonathan smirked.

"I said." I took a step backwards, my voice slowly rising so that the rest of the room, including my abusive father, could hear. "Get the hell away from me."

My brother's smile fell for a split second, and almost immediately he recovered from his surprise. "Oh Clary darling." He took a step closer, slowly closing the distance. "You'll never be able to get away from me."

 **AN: miss me? well I'm back! sorry I didn't update before Christmas, but are we honestly surprised? no.**

 **hopefully I'll be able to update again soon, but my other stories will probably be updated before this one is. I try to keep it fair.**

 **anyways! have an amazing day and I love you all!**

 **~madison**


	25. chapter 33

Previously:

 _My brother's smile fell for a split second, and almost immediately he recovered from his surprise. "Oh Clary, darling." He took a step closer, slowly closing the distance. "You'll never be able to get away from me."_

Now:

I watched as his lips tugged upwards, watching my shaking form. He remained in his spot, arm reaching forward and in that moment, that specific moment, I knew that I couldn't continue doing this to myself.

Living in this constant fear.

Sure, there would be moments in my life where I would have a panic attack or be more frightened than others in situations, but I couldn't, no wouldn't, let myself succumb to my brother and father again.

I meant what I had said.

He was going to leave me alone.

For good.

I stepped back, fingers clenched at my side to stop the shaking. "How about," I paused, "we make a deal?"

This peaked my father's interest. "A deal?" he questioned, eyes lighting up in excitement.

I nodded, trying my best to remain calm. "A deal," I confirmed, eyes searching my friends. "I want to play a game."

My father smiled, paused, then spoke calmly. "Does this game have rules?"

"Yes." I chanced a glance at Jace, though quickly looked away. "How about a game of capture the flag?"

"Capture the flag?"

I nodded once more. "Me and my friends versus you, Jonathan, and minions."

My father's smile never left his face. "Ah Clarrissa, you've changed. . . We'll do it. Sounds very very fun, right, dear?"

"If we win, you have to let us go. All of us. And leave us alone for a week."

"And if you lose?" Jonathan cut in, coal black eyes meeting my own.

"You can have me, but only me."

"Clary!" Izzy's voice. "No. No, you can't."

My eyes turned to meet hers, a small smile gracing my lips. I mouthed to her, "It'll be okay."

"Deal," my father said. "But Clarrissa, darling, have you forgotten? I never lose."

"I remember."

And that was that. My father barked orders at his guards, which there were a lot of, and ordered them to surround the forest and house. He spoke into a walky talky, ordering what I assumed was more men outside to do the same.

We were incredibly out numbered.

"Just so that none of you are stupid enough to run off," my father said, eyes twinkling with an evil glint.

Izzy was the first to be untied, and she raced forward to me, enclosing me in a hug, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, Clary. I'm sorry."

Then Alec, then Magnus, then Simon, and so on. Slowly, but surely, we made our way closer to possible freedom.

Jace was the last one untied, though soon, we were just a bunch of teenagers huddled together, tears streaming down our faces as we stared at my father, leader of the Circle, the most dangerous gang in New York.

He was smiling, eyes still glinted with excitement. Games were something my father had always loved. Manipulation being the main reason why of course. He loved messing with people, turning their brains on themselves until they were messed in the head, thoughts turned upside down.

Clary had seen plenty of his tricks when he brought other victims to where she was being kept.

Games were his favorite.

After what felt like years, we were finally alone.

Time passed--a second, then two--before I spoke, voice quiet and scared. "If we win," I said, eyes focusing on Jace's, whose hand was currently clenching my own, his touch warm and comforting. It made me feel just a bit safer. "My father won't keep his end of the deal."

"What do we do?" Magnus asked.

"We have to find another way out of this," Jace said. "There's got to be a way out."

I found it within myself to speak up. I couldn't let my friend's suffer because of me. "My father has this place surrounded in guards," I said. "They're all armed, so we have to find a way to get past them. If we can get past them we have a better chance at getting away, but-"

"What?" Simon asked. "What is it?"

"I'm not going to make this decision for you guys, but we know this forest better than they do. We have an advantage," I said. "We could wait it out. Hide in the cave."

Silence. Again.

"I think," Jace said uncertainly, "Leaving is our best choice. Clary, like you said, we know this place better than they do. We know our way around the forest. Now, we just need to use it to our advantage to get out. We can keep the flag on us so that they can't find it. It'll give us more time. Simon."

Simon looked up nervously. "Hm?"

"Do you have supplies that we could use to get out?"

He nodded.

"Good," he said, pausing. "Now who's with me?"

There was a pause--a brief moment in which everyone held their breath, uncertain on whether to go with Jace's idea. This decision, this moment, that would decide their future.

I cleared my throat, putting my hand in the middle. "I'm in."

Jace placed his hand on top of mine.

The rest of them glanced at us uncertainly, though Magnus was the next one to put his hand in. "Let's do this."

With a little bit of hope, the rest of them put their hands in the middle, wishing and hoping that everything would be okay, and that maybe, they would get away.

 **AN: hi... it's uh... it's been awhile skks lol... pls forgive me. anyways i hope u like this chapter. it's definitely no my best chapter, but i just wanted to get something out there. i love you guys!**


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